Raijin
by Hangovergoblin
Summary: A vast and unavoidable storm approaches Team 7 as Orochimaru shows signs he plans to rear his head at the Chuunin exams in Kusagakure. As the team prepares to confront the Snake, what other evils may reveal themselves? Sequel to Fuujin, M for swearing.
1. Chapter I

_Raijin_

_Chapter I_

_Aaaah, the long arduous task of completing Fuujin like I originally envisioned it is complete. Now, I'll start with the longer second book, Raijin. Before you jump into Raijin, I highly recommend you read the first book, otherwise you'll be at a complete loss at what's happening. I intend for this book to be further reaching than the first; now that a large chunk of the backstory has been introduced, I can work on interaction between the characters. That isn't saying that all of the backstory has been completed, though; Jin is going to eventually reach epic length. That, however, will most likely take place in the final part of the series, Kaajin. Should I receive a great deal of support, I'm thinking of expanding the jin series for the community into an all-encompassing alternate universe, with a uniquely intricate backstory, and a uinique way at looking at the cast of characters in Naruto._

_Disclaimer: This isn't my stuff, only some of this stuff is original, and I'm not claiming profits on this thang. This be Kishimoto's work, and he's the big-balla profit-makah._

* * *

><p>Kusagakure was a large village in size and wealth, but not in shinobi. Considered one of the weakest of the villages, the shinobi ratio was about one in every five hundred, as to Konoha's one to fifty ratio. Nevertheless, the Kusa-nin were well qualified shinobi of Konoha-caliber, a standard by which all villages were compared to. Most of its shinobi were aligned to earth and wind, with a little fire thrown in as well. They also had a penchant for poisons, and it was a tradition amongst those living in the Village to receive their first poison recipe on graduation from the Academy. Kusa was spread over an approximate area of ten miles, with medium-height domiciles and dwellings, giving the effect of stone rising from the great verdant plains of Kusa no kuni.<p>

This was the sight that greeted Uzumaki Naruto as he stepped out from the bordering forests. The plains were so flat, even the skyline was visible from tens of miles away. Jiraiya followed quickly behind him, desperate to break from the monotony of the trees. He was secretly dreading the entrance onto the Great Plain of Kusa, though, because he was leaving one monotonous scene and entering another or endless sky and endless grass.

Naruto threw his arms out wide and delighted as the gentle breeze caressed his whiskered cheeks, his orange trenchcoat fluttering behind him gaily. He opened his mouth and laughed the laugh of true happiness. His best friends were only a few miles away, and he had not seen them for a little less than a year, and he was itching to see Sasuke's scowl and Sakura's pretty smile. Jiraiya clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Go ahead, kid," he said, grinning at his apprentice. "I'll be right behind you."

Naruto returned the grin as he turned to look at his sensei, the Fuujin windmills growing from the pupil and extending outward in his eyes.

"Don't take too long, sensei!"

His outstretched arms flung out behind him as he ran, speeding like a bullet over the plains with the wind forcing him along at superhuman speed.

* * *

><p>Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke broke from the tree line at nearly the same time as Naruto, a few miles east of his position. The trio stepped lightly onto the grass, incredibly happy to be out of the forest, which they too had thought monotonous. Kakashi, who had just finished Icha-Icha Tactics, was particularly glad to be rid of the woods. He hadn't felt right while traversing the branches and boughs. Something eerily creepy and at the same time, disgustingly familiar had been out there, or so his instinct had told him.<p>

His instincts had never lied to him before.

He couldn't shake the feeling that whatever it had been, it was dangerous. Not necessarily an immediate threat, just a looming, disconcerting, and all around unpleasant thing. He shook the feeling off, though. They were out of the forest, and that's all he could ask for.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was less focused on the behind, and more on the ahead. When they had exited the forest, he caught a glimpse of orange to his west. Not the muted orange of the sunlight through the trees, but the glaring, brilliant orange one finds on jumpsuits and targets that say 'Hit me!' His eyes transformed into the Sharingan as he gazed across the plains, the outline of an orange figure sprinting across the fields obvious against the deep green and light blue background.

"Naruto..." Sasuke trailed off.

He threw a quick glance at Sakura and Kakashi.

"I'll be in Kusa. Don't be late."

Sasuke took one large leap into the field, then shot off toward the orange beacon on the horizon, flashing across the plains like a lightning bolt.

* * *

><p>Naruto sped along, covering the distance between him and Kusa in huge leaps and bounds as the Fuujin pushed him along. The whole way he grinned, laughing at the fun it was to finally see how fast he could push himself. The training at the Sanctum, as Kaze had put it, had really paid off in earnest. His control was much greater, and he was able to move faster than ever before. His eyes were so focused on their destination, they barely saw the flickering of red and black in the sun, or the flash of the white blade as it nearly crashed into him.<p>

Naruto threw himself into a sideroll, legs uncoiling powerfully to avert his momentum and throw him in a separate direction. As he completed his roll, he allowed the wind to push him forward again, spitting him back into a high speed run. He looked to the left and saw his rival and best friend staring him down with the Sharingan. Feet back on the ground, his own blade, Byakaze, flashed from its sheath and tore through the air. Sasuke brought the White Fang up in an effort to block it, but nearly dropped the blade from the ringing in his hands. Naruto had hit. Hard.

Their feet matching pace perfectly, they turned their torsos and locked blades, staring each other down. The grass under them was passing at a frighteningly fast rate, and Kusa was less than ten miles out. Could one of them win in time?

They broke apart, Sasuke hopping back and Naruto pushing himself away with a burst of wind as a huge rock cut between their path. Being dashed to bits on a rock was not something a shinobi would consider an honorable death. As the rock parted them, they both felt what could only be described as elation to have finally been able to play that first part, the opening sword duel between rivals. Nothing in the world had compared to that one hand-stinging moment when their blades had met, sending buzzing sensations through their hands. They knew each other was real just from that moment, and that it wasn't a cruel trick of their eyes.

Sasuke, in his red, sleeveless, undershirtless vest and black shinobi pants, and Naruto in his orange trenchcoat, holding the curious blue-silver blade he had worn through determination and skill, and Sasuke holding the White Fang, the supreme gift of the Hatake clan. Opponents made for each other, ones that would always accompany each other in every battle, every fight until the end.

Naruto grinned and Sasuke smirked as their blades clashed again, still in the mad dash for Kusa. The city was looming above them now, and in a few footfalls, they'd hit the gate.

The walls were coming dangerously close as they met again, sparks flying from the brief, intense encounter as they jabbed and dodged, slashed and parried in a show of silver and white, clanging and shrieking as the air was displaced by their lightning fast moves. They had found a solid match in each other with Sasuke's speed and Naruto's enhanced quickness from the Fuujin. It had been a long time since Sasuke had seen those blue and black eyes; the last time he had seen them, he'd been punched in the face right afterwards, knocking him unconscious.

The Mangekyou Sharingan whirled in his eyes. He had no intention of harming Naruto, but he knew Naruto was thinking the same as he was. The last time Naruto had seen those eyes, he'd knocked Sasuke unconscious. He could tell, because Naruto's eyes widened briefly before returning to their normal size, but now they carried something else with them. Something happier, because he knew Sasuke had been fully rehabilitated from Orochimaru's clutches. The lurking malevolence was gone from those eyes of Sasuke's, and Naruto knew it.

Grinning, both the boys ground to a halt before the Kusa Chuunin guarding the gate, sheathing their blades in the process and deactivating their doujutsu as well. The chuunin raised an eyebrow at their antics.

"Papers?" he asked, tone fraught with the apathy and total boredom that came with guarding the gate of one of the smallest ninja villages.

Naruto and Sasuke both fished around in their pockets for their identification cards and Chuunin exam registration papers before finally producing the documents. The guard looked at each of their photos and then back up to their faces. The two pictures had changed just a little, but Naruto's had changed the most. The picture was his original genin registration picture, and showed all the signs of a preadolescent boy, chubby faced and bright. Now, the face that the Chuunin saw was lean, as if the teen had spent most of his days training like a madman, which had been the case over the past few months. Even as they walked through the deserts of Suna and the bordering countries of Kusa, Naruto would work on his control and capacity, as well as his other jutsu, often aiming at trees and small rocks on the way. He had even glassed a small piece of land out in the deserts with a katon jutsu.

All the baby fat had melted from his body, leaving a cut and toned shape, with deep lines of definition. His cheeks were gaunt with the absence of fat, and his features were sharp.

Sasuke, like Naruto, had also lost some fat, but not anywhere near as much. He had already been lean to begin with.

"Step through."

The gate opened to reveal the inner city of Kusagakure, Village Hidden in the Grass.

* * *

><p>As evening pursued the midday sun, Naruto and Sasuke found themselves in a small tearoom located just off the main street in Kusa's merchant district. After meeting up with their teammates and sensei, respectively, they had decided an afternoon of rest would be in order after their run across the plains. They had smiled when they had entered The House of Green Leaves; there was a pair of extremely pretty girls in the corner. They were obviously shinobi, wearing their hitai-ate proudly on their forehead, and from the lack of Chuunin vests, the two teens could only assume they were genin, too. They even looked to be the same age as Naruto and Sasuke, who were halfway between thirteen and fourteen.<p>

Sasuke smirked and waved in their direction; they were pleased to see the girls wave back. Naruto rolled his eyes and sat at a table, pushing Byakaze behind his back as he sat in the chair. The hilt stuck out at the perfect angle to draw on the fly. Sasuke was equally as cautious, even going so far as to sit a quarter of the way out of his seat so the White Fang could hang loosely at his side. An older lady, apparently opposed to the idea of serving Konoha ninja, took their orders with a barely concealed sneer on her face.

Sasuke and Naruto chatted for a while, reminiscing and reliving, as if they were two old fellows who hadn't seen each other for many, many years. There was something between them now, like before Sasuke had tried to leave. A common bond of brotherhood, Sasuke and Naruto's substitute for the brother they never truly had. The old woman brought out their tea, and they sat, enjoying the soft music playing from the streets outside, the taste of their tea and the smell of cooking beef from the upper balcony of the tearoom.

It was Naruto who broke the silence, asking, "So how's Sakura?"

He honestly wasn't quite sure why he hadn't asked about Kakashi in the same sentence.

Sasuke shrugged. "You know," he said, leaning back in his chair, "the usual. Being bossy, being a know-it-all. She's grown, though. She's a more competent shinobi since the Chuunin Exams."

He grinned. "And I know something you don't know about her." Sasuke enjoyed the look in Naruto's eyes. The look of someone who had been crawling through the desert with a bottle of water dangling in front of their eyes.

"What?"

Sasuke shook his head, smirking.

"Can't tell you."

"What? Why not?" Naruto was looking hurt in a mock pout. Sasuke shrugged.

"I promised I wouldn't tell," he chuckled. "Deal with it," he said, crossing his arms.

Naruto was about to yell at him for being a prick, but before he could say anything, a pair of hands slammed themselves on their table.

The room went deathly silent. Not a muscle moved. Only the two teens' eyes made any sort of movement at all, travelling up the arms to the face of the person who had so rudely interrupted their conversation. The arms, which were long and well defined, were attached to a teen their age, who made Neji's glare look like a childish pout. His deep emerald eyes gleamed with hate in the evening sun, the light catching them in such a way that they seemed to shine in the half-light of the room.

"Get the hell out, Konoha-nin," the teen demanded.

Behind him stood two others, one short and fat, the other as tall as their leader, but considerably bulkier. The closest body shape Naruto could identify with the teen was that of Hoshigaki Kisame, but shorter and most likely less strong. Much less.

The leader was dressed like a throwback to Naruto's old jumpsuit, but this one was black and separated into two pieces... thus making it _not _a jumpsuit. The jacket was just like the upper part of his former orange monstrosity, sans the spiral on the shoulder. The zipper had been cartoonishly enlarged, and hung at the bottom, leaving the jacket open to reveal a yellow shirt. The pants and sleeves were longer (and tighter) and flared at the ends to a pair of the newly coined 'shinobi sneakers' and gloves, respectively.

Sasuke snorted. "I hate Emo...," he muttered to himself.

The teen just continued to stare at them, black hair falling over one of his green eyes.

"We don't have to leave," Naruto deadpanned. "We paid."

A burst of motion and the emo-nin had flipped the table, yelling, "I'll make you leave!"

Naruto and Sasuke kicked hard against the floor, pushing themselves in opposite directions as they drew their blades, Byakaze and White Fang humming through the air as the two left their chairs in the same motion. The two nin accompanying the enemy genin had disappeared, but as Sasuke's Sharingan and Naruto's Fuujin activated, where they had left to became apparent. The two Kusa-nin were much faster than they appeared, and had already gotten around Sasuke and Naruto, preparing to strike at the two brothers' unprotected back.

Byakaze sang as its blue-silver blade sliced through the air, aimed at the head of the Nin behind him, while Naruto's other arm outstretched to Sasuke. At the moment Sasuke's opponent was about to strike, Naruto snapped his fingers. He didn't even bother to turn around and watch his handiwork as his attention became focused on his own opponent. Sasuke's was kneeling on the ground, roaring in pain and clutching his ears. Naruto had burst his eardrums with a localized sonic boom inside his inner ear.

Sasuke, satisfied that Naruto had taken out his own opponent, focused his own attention on the emo-nin, who was flying through handseals. His Sharingan caught the tail end of them and recognized them as being very familiar. He jumped to the side quickly, in order to dodge the attack.

**"**Katon: Goukakyu!" the teen yelled, spitting a huge fireball in Sasuke's direction.

Sasuke cleared the fireball, but only by a few inches. He could feel the heat seep into his shoes as the fire whizzed past him. Rolling under a table, he sliced two of the legs off. The table fell into a sort of barrier that hid the technique he was completing.

Two Sasukes jumped from behind the table, each rushing the Emo-nin, White Fang raised in anticipation of a strike. The teen was fast, though. Twirling two kunai from his pouch, he flung them at the two Uchiha, expecting one to at least hit the original.

Both Bunshin faded from existence as Sasuke swept the legs out from underneath the leader, pinning him with White Fang at his neck.

Naruto was still caught up in his own battle. The large bodied opponent was proving to be a difficult one. He had some type of device attached to his arm that covered the hand in a metallic casing. His right arm, which Naruto expected was his prominent one, was the only appendage to have this device attached to it. Naruto recognized it as looking like one of the strong arms from the Cyberpunk comics he read when he was little.

He brought up Byakaze again and slashed at the Kusa-nin, only to have the teen raise his arm and the blade to clang off of it harmlessly. Grinning, Naruto hopped back and disappeared. The wind carried him swiftly around the building as he held the vacuum in the nin's ears. As long as he couldn't hear the wind, Naruto could move fast enough to avoid detection while he prepared the final strike.

Holding his hand away from his body, he concentrated, bringing all of his chakra into the destructive little orb known as the Rasengan. The Yondaime's legendary technique, it was what had inspired Kakashi's Chidori. Now, Naruto would use it to dispatch another enemy, adding to his already long laundry list of defeated foes.

The orb crackled with chakra as it spun, sucking in visible strings of chakra from Naruto's body.

He ran even as he landed on solid ground, bringing the Rasengan in front of him.

The orb of chakra caught the teen in the chest as he turned around, sensing the presence of Naruto behind him. The nin was dumbfounded for a moment, but the expression changed to one of shock as he exploded from the building and out into the street below.

Naruto stood up from his kneeling position and uttered a single word, grinning.

"Pwned."

Sasuke high-fived him as he came to rest beside his teammate, who still had the leader by the throat. Naruto crouched beside the teen's head. "What's your deal, dude?"

The teen just continued to struggle. "Lemme go," he yelled indignantly. "Motherless bastards!"

Had they not just kicked his whole team's ass, the two would have been slightly offended by the insult. They really were motherless, and Naruto just happened to be the literal meaning of the word 'Bastard.' They decided, however, that kicking this kid's ass _again _would mean little in the long run, so they decided to press the questions. They could hear approaching footsteps, too. The old granny had probably called the Kusa Anbu on them for roughing up a Kusa team and destroying her property.

Naruto chuckled. Tsunade would have a lot of paperwork to fill out.

"He asked you what your problem was," Sasuke deadpanned, forcing the blade of the White Fang a little further down on the kid's neck. Not enough to draw blood, but enough for the kid to know that it really w_as _a sword at his neck.

"You. Konoha-nin. We don't like your kind around here. At all."

The kid had the gall to spit in Sasuke's face. Bad move, considering he was a very proud person. Naruto could see that brooding anger welling up in Sasuke's eyes, a throwback to previous attitudes. Suddenly, the emo-nin noticed, the blade was drawing red teardrops of blood.

"You son of a bitch," Sasuke glared, his Sharingan flaring to life once more in an angry surge. "I should kill you for that."

Naruto was taken aback. Never once had he heard Sasuke curse. The Uchiha had always kept his calm and poise in any situation. Well, most of them. His fight with Orochimaru was not one of those times. The blond grabbed the Uchiha on the shoulder and pulled him away. He could still see the thinly veiled hate in those eyes. "Let's go, Sasuke," he said softly. The sight of that expression had brought something back to him that he'd forgotten. The malicious side of Sasuke. He didn't like it.

The black-clothed teen got up and brushed his outfit off.

"My name is Akira. If you know what's good for you, watch your ass in the Exam."

The teen and his teammates extracted themselves soon after, leaving a thoroughly perplexed Naruto and a still-brooding Sasuke standing in the wake of their battle, which wasn't very bad, considering how brutal the fight had been... On the other team. Naruto smirked. They had done a good job.

"Come on, Sasuke. Let's get outta here."

He grabbed Sasuke by the arm and with a sharp yank, Sasuke felt himself being pushed to the roof on the other side of the street. As effortlessly as he had pulled Sasuke along, Naruto set them down on the roof and the two began a sprint to the hotel their team had booked. Knowing Jiraiya, Naruto concluded that the man had found a hotel/brothel to stay in, because let's face it. Jiraiya's horny.

* * *

><p>They found Sakura in the lobby of the hotel, which in Naruto's opinion, was very nice. It was decorated in a western style, full of tiled floors and an open villa in the middle, where trees and and a small patch of grass grew as a relaxation area.<p>

But it wasn't any of that that held his interest.

It was Haruno Sakura, third member of Team 7, and in Naruto's humble opinion, the most beautiful girl he'd lain eyes on. Over the past year, she had developed into a full-fledged kunoichi, sporting the body, mind, and prowess inherent in every female ninja. And to Naruto's secret pleasure, she had developed in other ways, too.

Her former 'red dress thingie,' as Naruto had eloquently called it at one point, had been replaced by a khaki skirt and red vest, with long boots, a skirt, and a pair of black gloves. She had even kept her hair short while he had been away.

"Naruto!"

Sakura flung herself from the lobby's couch and into his arms, hugging him for all she was worth. She inhaled deeply, as quietly as she could, to remind herself of his scent, even as he hugged her back. Looking up, she caught Sasuke's eye. He made a 'hmph' noise and smirked. She hugged Naruto even tighter so he couldn't see her blush.

She had missed him so terribly over the past year, that she had tried to find every piece of his life that he had left behind to try and remind herself of him. She had missed everything he was and everything he meant, and now that he was here... She didn't want to let him go.

"Ummm... Sakura?"

The pinkette snapped back to reality as she realized she was still in his arms. Jumping back, she blushed deeply, rubbing the back of her head in a sheepish manner. "Sorry," she muttered, staring at her toes. "I kinda zoned out there for a second... WHOA!"

Naruto had picked her up at the waist and was swinging her around, much like a couple who had finally seen each other after a long absence. She couldn't help but giggle at his antics.

"I missed you, Sakura!" Naruto yelled, bringing them to a stop. He looked up and met her seafoam-colored eyes, her pink hair falling from their sudden rotation, framing her face perfectly.

Sakura felt the world around them slow to a complete stop as they looked into each other's eyes, blue on green. Nothing else mattered in that instant. Not Sasuke, leaning against the receptionist's counter, watching their little moment, not Kakashi, stepping lightly down the hall, intent on catching the moment on film, or any of the outside world, for that matter. It was just the two of them, because both of them could feel it. That connection two people share when they've known each other for a long time, but have only just realized what was brewing in them.

Naruto smiled, and Sakura felt her insides turn to mush.

She could always remember obsessing over Sasuke, denying Naruto's badgering for dates, and turning around to ask the Uchiha out on them, only to be rejected herself. But she knew now that that would never be the case again. Even if it took them a while, she knew they'd end up together in some form or fashion. All good things in time, her mother used to say.

Naruto sat her down gently, holding her in his arms for a moment longer than necessary. He could feel the warmth she gave off, like a beacon in the dark, or a blanket in the cold. He supposed that's what made him smile. That all-encompassing feeling of compassion and in the same moment, passion itself. He had desperately wished he could have kissed her, but he knew it wasn't the time. For once in his life, Naruto would show restraint, and wait until the time was right.

A bright flash snapped their little semi-reality into pieces, and the image of Sakura in Naruto's arms was forever burned into film, saved until the very day that Kakashi felt he could part with it.

'Hell no," Kakashi thought, mentally dancing in his mind. 'This is priceless!'

He would soon think otherwise.

Sakura had developed a tick on her forehead.

Agony and Despair were soon to follow.

* * *

><p>"So, I bet you're wondering whatever became of the curse seal, huh, Naruto?"<p>

Sasuke was leaning against the kitchen counter in their hotel room, arms crossed against his red vest. The subject wasn't particularly painful for him anymore; he had long since come to grips with the fact that Orochimaru could never have anything to do with his life again, and that had made Sasuke a happy person indeed. Sasuke was immensely proud of himself for turning his back on the snake-sannin; he knew that the path to greatness no longer lied in the clutches of that man. Sasuke's path to greatness was in his own palms.

Naruto looked up from his dinner.

"Yeah, actually," he said after he took a bite from his fried rice. "I just hadn't wanted to ask, in case it brought up any painful memories… That wasn't _that _long ago, you know? Two years isn't exactly a long stretch of time." He took another bite of his rice as Sasuke started his story.

"Well, it all takes place a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…"

Naruto stifled a laugh as Sasuke began his narrative. Naruto loved inside jokes.

"After you brought me back from Rice Country, there was a period of time when my chakra was black, like it had been corrupted completely. Kakashi had been worried at first that if they sealed the Curse mark any further, it would cut off my chakra supply and kill me. Yet, he knew a risk had to be taken quickly, otherwise I'd be eaten alive by the corrupted chakra and turned into something much, much darker."

He paused as he rubbed the area of skin between his shoulder and back.

"You were out for a few days, Naruto. I was out for two weeks. Kakashi, while you had been asleep, had contacted Jiraiya and told him he needed a seal master to perform a true sealing of the Curse mark. One that would constantly purify the black chakra of Orochimaru as it was being pumped through my system. Jiraiya delivered, of course, and performed a seal to end all purification seals."

Sasuke pulled his shirt down and showed off an impossibly intricate seal around the original curse mark; it paled in comparison to the Shikifuujin, but was still an impressive show of sealing ability. The seal itself resembled a circular pattern of angel wings, nine in number and stylized so it didn't look like a tattoo, radiating out from the central mark.

"Jiraiya called it, 'The True Seal of Heaven.' It was an intensely painful experience; way more painful than when I was originally bitten, and just as painful as my transformation into the second stage of the Curse Seal. It forced me into a coma for around two weeks, like I said."

Naruto whistled.

"That's impressive," he said as he got up to take a closer look at the seal. "I can't imagine how long it took to fully ink you out. Jiraiya had said Kakashi had done a good job of sealing the original mark. He said it took Kakashi some three hours to fully finish all of the sealing marks on the floor. This one looks like it took a day."

Sasuke nodded.

"I'm not entirely sure," he said. "I was going in and out of consciousness for two or three days, so I don't know how long the actual sealing took. All I know is that when it was started, it hurt like hell."

"I can imagine," Naruto said, chuckling. "You deserved it, you dick." He laughed as he sat back down to his rice. Sasuke shot him a glare that gradually softened.

"Yeah," he agreed. "I did."

Naruto shook his head and chuckled again.

"Look, man, it's really not that big of a deal. People fuck up, bro. That's the way life is. I'm just glad I could bring you back. I told you I'd break your legs if I had to."

Sasuke laughed with him.

"Yeah," Sasuke agreed again. "I guess you did."

* * *

><p><em>I hope you enjoyed this as much as I liked writing it. I even added a never before seen section to the end there. I'm really enjoying going through these stories again and working on them. I hope they entertain you as much as they entertain me. Leave me spectacular reviews! Remember, flames and criticism are welcomed, as well. They'll be responded to in a way that will hopefully make everyone happy. -Hangovergoblin<em>


	2. Chapter II

_Raijin_

_Chapter II_

_Here we are again! This is chapter II of Raijin, as you can see by the title, and hopefully there will be many more to come! I didn't get many reviews for the first chapter, so I'm hoping this update will bring a few more around. Tell me if you like the progression of the story, and leave me ideas and suggestions. I love ideas and suggestions. Flames welcome, as well! -Hangovergoblin_

* * *

><p>Midnight in Kusagakure was a beautiful sight, especially on a night with a full moon like this one. Konoha's nights didn't even compare to this. Not even when Naruto sat high atop the Hokage monument, gazing out over the village. This was on a whole different level. As Naruto sat on the rail of his room's balcony, he watched the first red streamer spiral up into the air and burst into a thousand little red starbursts. Naruto had always loved fireworks for as long as he could remember. Even when the October 10th festival was going on, there was a small slit in his wall that he could peek out of and see the fireworks dance in the sky.<p>

There was a festival here, too, but instead of celebrating the supposed death of the Kyuubi and the sacrifice of the Yondaime, they were celebrating the first Chuunin exam to be held in Kusa for a whole decade, and boy, did they know how to celebrate. Everywhere you looked, something was happening, someone was getting drunk, or someone was having a good time. It was quite a sight to behold, especially when the first streamer went up at the stroke of midnight.

Legs dangling over the railing and trenchcoat waving in the winds coming off the plains, Uzumaki Naruto closed his eyes and listened to the merry-making and the explosions of the pyrotechnics. He smiled as he heard a small child below him singing a small tune, repetitive but cute, as she skipped down the street to the festival. He never once dreamed he'd see or hear such a huge party without the sounds of an angry mob outside his front door accompanying them.

The sound of rushing air met his ears as a pair of dainty, boot-encased feet tapped on the balcony's tile floor. As he turned around, a firework went off behind him, exposing the face of the person who was at his proverbial doorstep. The rush of white and red light revealed a lovely pinkette by the name of Haruno Sakura.

"Sakura...," he said, sounding out her name like it was the first word he'd ever learned. The light of the fireworks bathed her in a lovely ethereal-pink glow, adding to the beauty that he thought couldn't increase anymore because the laws of the Universe should prevent it. He grinned. She was so gorgeous.

"Hi, Naruto," she greeted, waving cutely. Her arms wrapped around her body, shivering. "It's kinda chilly out here, huh?"

Naruto nodded, smiling. He leapt off of the balcony and gracefully pulled off his trenchcoat. "Here. It'll help."

She was about to protest, but decided against it as the warm leather wrapped around her cold body. Naruto's unnatural body heat saturated her like the sun in spring. "Ooh," she sighed, smiling, her pink hair settling into the coat's large collar. "That's nice."

The coat was obviously too big for her, reaching nearly to the floor of the balcony. The orange leather shone in the light of the fireworks as they burst again.

Naruto patted the spot beside him on the railing. "Come on," he called softly. "Sit beside me."

As she walked over, Sakura could feel the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Now that she was here, she didn't know how she could handle being beside him. She was now fully aware of everything that she felt for him, and that was the thing that made this so difficult. Should she tell him? Or would that be the wrong move? She just couldn't tell anymore.

As she sat on the rail beside him, he slid closer. Her breath caught in her throat at the prospect of being so close to him outside of battle. She could feel her cheeks heat up to Hinata-esque levels and wondered how the small Hyuuga dealt with it. It felt like the walls were closing in on her.

She stole a sideways glance at Naruto, who was watching the sky intently, eyes lighting up with amusement as each firework burst in the sky. The sparks seemed to dance in his eyes as she watched him. The butterflies compounded.

"Naruto? Have you ever wanted to ask someone something, but were too afraid to ask?"

Naruto glanced over at her, his blue eyes narrowing. "Eh?" he asked, puzzled. "No...," he said, swinging his legs back and forth against the railing. "If I have a question, I ask. No matter what the consequences." He grinned, showing off his white teeth and slightly elongated canines. "Do _you _have a question, Sakura?"

Sakura, to be honest, was a little taken aback at his ability to read her. Certainly it shouldn't have been that easy... But Naruto did have quite the ability to read people, so she couldn't say too much.

"Maybe," she said, smiling prettily for him. She could feel her cheeks practically scorching. "Maybe not."

The blonde teen pouted, crossing his arms like a petulant child. "No fair."

Sakura giggled lightly. "For me, it is," she said, still smiling. Naruto grumbled a little, under his breath. "Well I think you do, Sakura," he said, turning to look at her, arms still folded. "So ask."

She took her first baby step into what would be the cold water revival of her lovelife.

"What do you think of me, Naruto?

The blonde teen turned back to the fireworks, which were still going off steadily, as if not wanting to end themselves. His head tilted up as he gazed at them, and he answered, "I think you're a wonderful kunoichi, Sakura. You're different from the girl I left back in Konoha." He grinned. "In a good way."

"Really?" she asked, head cocked to the side as her legs swung lazily over the railing's edge. "How so?"

The boy shrugged. "It's just... There, ya' know?" His brow furrowed as he thought of a way to put it. "It's hard to explain." Sakura made an 'O' shape with her mouth. "Right," she said. "Now for my second question."

She grabbed the railing of the balcony for some support as she prepared herself for the answer.

"What do you think of me... As a woman?"

* * *

><p>Sasuke walked quietly through the streets of Kusa, wandering aimlessly. He was at a loss for sleep tonight, and with the fireworks bursting like mad cannons outside his window, the sandman was hard-pressed to make an appearance. So he'd done what he did back in Konoha on sleepless nights. He got dressed, and went out. The only real difference was that he had no fear of Itachi bursting through a window or popping out behind him to slit his throat. He was well aware that even if Itachi had the ability to sneak into Kusa and cut said throat, the older Uchiha wouldn't. Sasuke was Itachi's one way ticket to something; that much he could gather. Out of all the times he'd seen Itachi since the massacre, the man had barely spoken ten words to him, but never attempted to kill him. All he did was do a little psychological harm, which was something that Sasuke could deal with now.<p>

So as he wound his way silently through the shadows of the buildings, he couldn't help but wonder why Itachi hadn't killed him in the first place. It made sense. To be the only Uchiha left would be a great, but terrible thing. At the same time, Itachi could potentially remake the clan from his own twisted vision, but something told Sasuke Itachi was not the type to take brides, or knock up some chick to have a kid. Maybe it was the whole 'murderous prodigal son of a prodigal clan gone mad' thing. Who knew?

Sasuke's eyes widened as he came to an abrupt stop. He had heard a hiss, and it was not an artificial one, either. His Sharingan activated, bathing the area instantly in a sort of half-light, like mid-way between night and day, which was considerably better than his normal vision. If there was one thing that could make Sasuke shiver with fear, it was snakes. He never used to be afraid of them, but that was before Orochimaru. The ophidian bastard had instilled in Sasuke a dreadful, paranoia-fuelled hatred of all things slithering or hissing, and it was that very paranoia that drove the teen now.

His skin crawled as he heard another hiss, this time, to his left. His magnifying vision settled on the origin of the sound, and saw something small and slim slither into a doorway. He followed after it, pulling his chokuto from its sheath and holding it at the ready across his body in an x-shape. He stepped into the doorway, his Sharingan illuminating the room. There was nothing there but some empty trashbins and an old, timeworn desk that was falling apart at the seams.

Sasuke sighed in relief. The snake was obviously gone, too-

"Gah!" Sasuke yelled as something sharp dug into his ankle. He looked down to see the small snake burying its fangs deep into his leg. He could feel a hot, searing pain fill his leg, and he shook the small beast off, slicing its head off as it flew through the air with his blade. It landed in a heap on the floor and for a moment, stayed still. Then it poofed away in a cloud of smoke.

"A summon," Sasuke gasped through labored breaths. "That goddamned fucking son of a bitch." He grit his teeth as he limped out of the building. Luckily, his hotel room wasn't too far away: It was about two blocks. He hoped he could make it. The pain was growing in his leg, and soon... There mightn't be any pain at all.

* * *

><p>"A... A woman?"<p>

Naruto gazed at Sakura, unsure of where this was going. She had never asked him anything along the lines of this, so he had no previous knowledge to work on... Which left him at a loss.

"What do you mean?" he asked, desperate for a hint.

Sakura shrugged. "Nevermind," she said, eyes downcast. Maybe Naruto hadn't changed. Maybe he was still dense, still confounded by questions that were intrinsically simple and complex at the same time.

"I think, Sakura, that you're still the most beautiful woman in the world."

Sakura's eyes shot up to his, a look of disbelief etched on her face. "Really?"

The blonde nodded, reaching out with his own hand, and setting it down on hers gently on the railing. "Really."

She gazed intently into his eyes as they inched closer to each other on the rail, the fireworks still booming over Kusa, like their heartbeats in their chests. The last one shot up just as their faces moved closer, and when their lips met, it exploded, sending thousands of red and orange sparks spewing into the air, illuminating Kusa like the midday sun. Then it was dark again, and only the moonlight was left to light the shadows.

There was a sharp gasp of pain from below their balcony and a loud thump as something heavy hit the ground. Naruto and Sakura parted, and the blonde teen peeked over the balcony to see a red and black figure lying on the ground, twitching occasionally.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, jumping off the railing, leaving a stunned Sakura behind. He activated his Fuujin as he hit the ground, negating the impact and allowing him to reach Sasuke faster. The boy was foaming slightly at the mouth.

"Sakura!" Naruto called back up to the balcony, panicked. "Get Kakashi! Bring him to my room!"

She was already gone.

Sasuke was totally unconscious by the time Naruto had wind-jumped back up to the balcony, and had stopped breathing when lain on the bed. Kakashi had burst in the door that very moment, a scared and panicked Sakura in tow.

"What happened?" he yelled, his grey hair bouncing angrily as he made his way to the bed. He was already weaving signs as he kneeled beside Sasuke's prone form, and placed them on his chest. The boy's lifeless body jumped as an electric shock ripped through him, bringing him back to life, if only temporarily.

Naruto was busy taking off Sasuke's red vest as Kakashi prepared an analytical jutsu, his hands glowing from concentrated chakra. The blond member of team 7 had small tears leaking from the corner of his eyes as he busied himself in helping Kakashi, whose brow was furrowed and sweaty from the concentration. The old scarecrow removed his hands from Sasuke's chest and pulled out what appeared to be a small green pill. Sasuke was going back into convulsions as his body once more attempted to shut itself down.

Sakura stepped onto the bed and laid Sasuke's head in her lap, holding it firmly to keep him from biting Kakashi's finger off as the Jounin placed the pill into his mouth. As Kakashi inserted the small pill, Naruto shut his eyes. If his friend died, he didn't want to see it. Especially after everything they had been through in the past couple of years. The boy involuntarily chewed the pill as his teeth clenched and unclenched and his throat's muscles convulsed.

Within seconds, the effect was noticeable, as the seizures died down and the boy coughed up a vile red substance that looked quite like blood. It was not blood, however. It was far too runny, like water.

"I think he'll be okay," Kakashi said, visibly slumping as he sat in the small chair beside Sasuke's bed. "It was poison," he explained, pointing at the substance that was now pooled in little mercurial drops on the floor. "Poison from a firesnake, if the red color is any evidence. I'd say from a summoned one. Firesnakes live only in a couple of cave systems around the whole continent, and even then, they are very elusive." His cycloptic eye narrowed as the realization of the summoned snake hit Naruto and Sakura in unison, their jaws clenching painfully.

"Orochimaru."

Kakashi nodded. "That would be my first guess," he mused. His chin sat on his hand as he contemplated. "And the one that makes the most sense. Manda is very picky of who signs his contracts." Naruto nodded.

"I remember he said that if Orochimaru summoned him again for battle without providing sacrifice, he'd eat Orochimaru," the Jinchuuriki said. At Sakura's puzzled look, he explained, "That was when I left with Jiraiya to find Tsunade-baba." She made an 'O' face.

"Ah."

"So that means," Naruto stood up and began pacing, "That Orochimaru is here. Now. In Kusa. He'll be in disguise like in Konoha, I'll bet."

Kakashi was surprised at the forethought Naruto had put into this. His cogs must've been turning as soon as he saw Sasuke collapsed on the street.

"Yes," the scarecrow agreed, sighing. "Which means by the end of this, we may tangle with him again." He stood up and moved to the shutters, drawing them closed. "Sakura," he said. "Go get your things. Naruto, go to Sasuke's room and get his. My room will be fine. Bring all the stuff here." The two shinobi nodded and did as they were told. They left quickly and quietly, intent on finishing the task set ahead of them.

Kakashi stood still for a moment, listening to their footsteps as the left. He reached over to the bedside table and picked up the phone. Dialing a number, he pressed the small button on the receiver, and the call went through, straight to a room on the opposite end of Kusa.

He was met with a gruff, "Hello," and the sound of the opposite sex, or _many _of the opposite sex giggling in the background.

"Jiraiya, it's Kakashi. There's a problem."

There was a pause, and the quick rustling of cloth could be heard. A few girlish squeals of disappointment filled Kakashi's ears and the phone was picked up again. "I'll be right over," Jiraiya said.

* * *

><p>A dark chuckle filled the air as the Oto-nin scrambled down the alleyway, tripping over his feet in panic. His hand clutched at his robed shoulder, where a large dark stain was growing steadily by the moment, the blood rushing through his ears bumping in time to the throbbing in his wounded arm. His eyes widened in pain and distress as he slipped, his shoulder gouging painfully into the ground. He gasped and tried to pick himself up, but that same evil chuckle sounded, and he was pinned to the ground by a heavy shoe on his back.<p>

"Look what we have here, partner. A runner."

The oto-nin gasped in pain as the shoe dug into his back and twisted, leaving him breathless. An absolutely enormous shadow moved into the light in front of him, revealing a massive hunched figure with beady black eyes, a red cape, and a straw hat. An evil aura seeped from the figure, but it was nothing compared to the absolute horror, terror, and all around viciously deadly aura emanating from the person at his back.

"You shouldn't have run into us, boy," the figure at his front snickered. "Because now Orochimaru is gonna be short one man."

"That fucking snake is gonna be short a whole lot more, when we're done here."

The sound of metal rending the very air around it was the last thing the boy heard as his head was sliced from his body, the spurting blood spraying like a vile black fountain in the moonlight.

* * *

><p>As Naruto kept a silent vigil over his recovering teammate, he felt a creeping presence enter his mind. Naruto sighed; he knew what was about to happen. It always happened like this, even when he was face-down in the waters of the Valley of the End. He was about to be pulled into his mindscape to have a little chat with his resident prisoner and the manic ball of manifested wind, Kaze.<p>

He closed his eyes and waited.

"**Boy…"**

The great tailed beast was close to the bars of his cage, like when Naruto had first encountered him. The fox's fangs filled most of Naruto's vision, and its loud, rumbling voice swallowed up the sound of the dripping water in the sewers of his mind. Naruto shook his head of the mental cobwebs and glared at the beast.

"What do you want, old fox? My best friend is dying, and this is when you want to talk?" he asked, folding his arms as he stood up. "Why couldn't you have picked all of those free moments we had while I was travelling to Kusa?"

The beast just looked back at him as Kaze made his presence known, swirling down out of the highest reaches of the ceiling. The wind manifestation settled to a stop just beside the Kyuubi's great maw.

_"Up until now, we had no reason to call you here… There is something we must discuss," _the ball of air said. With no discernable emotions to pick out on the faceless orb, Naruto had to go by tone alone in surmising that something was bothering them. Naruto frowned. The ball was never this serious, no matter what they were facing, unless he was actively training Naruto in something.

"Would someone tell me what's going on, then?" the blond genin asked.

"**It would seem you're about to complete the Chidori, boy. That could prove disastrous for you." **The great beast sat back on his haunches, providing Naruto with his full visage, instead of just his eyes and his gaping, fanged cavern of a mouth. **"It would seem the fool Jiraiya has led you astray on how the actual technique is used and the limiting effects it creates on the user. Since the Toady has never performed the famed Raikiri, he doesn't truly know the ins and outs of it.**

Kaze nodded as he agreed with the King of Beasts' ample explanation of the problem. Naruto, however, was more than curious as to what they were going on about and stated so. Kaze took that moment to interject.

_"We have watched the memory of Sasuke using the technique on you in the Valley of the End over and over. We have picked out two flaws that the old man doesn't know about. A, the Chidori uses lightning-enhanced chakra; something Jiraiya-sama doesn't realize. B, it creates a tunnel-vision effect on your line of sight. We're not entirely sure why it does this to the user, but it is indeed the largest drawback to the technique."_

"So what?" Naruto asked, recrossing his arms. "I can use the Fuujin and get out of the way quickly enough if I miss my target."

"**Fool," **the Kyuubi growled. **"Have you learned nothing Kaze taught you? What's the first drawback of the Fuujin Doujutsu? Since you're apparently too dense to get it, I'll explain it. **_**Your ability to use anything besides wind techniques is severely diminished." **_The Kyuubi pawed the bar of his cage, as if agitated by Naruto's lack of foresight. **"Which means you cannot use a Lightning-affiliated technique while the Doujutsu is active."**

The boy on the other side of the cage frowned. He hadn't thought of that. It made perfect sense, though. When he had tried to work on the technique back in Suna, he had the Fuujin activated. He remembered growing incredibly frustrated because he could only make sparks instead of the fully-fledged technique. He had more than enough chakra to feed the beast that was the Chidori, and the control necessary to perform it… he just couldn't perform it because of his Doujutsu.

_"And because of that limiting factor, Naruto, there is another problem; Without the Fuujin, you couldn't possibly move quick enough to evade a counter strike. It could possibly mean your death. And," _the ball said, gesturing with a flick of its spherical surface to the Kyuubi, _"Our death, as well. I have no desire to float around in the elemental plane for another few thousand years looking for a viable host."_

"So," Naruto began, frowning, "you mean I should give up learning the Chidori?"

"**Unless you plan on developing a lightning affinity within the next few days before the exams, yes, boy. Besides, you've already **_**learned it**_ **well enough. If you could develop a way to negate the limiting effects of your Kekkei-Genkai and the technique itself, you could surely use it to great effect, but I don't foresee that happening any time soon. Do you?"**

Naruto hung his head in defeat. It truly bothered him that he couldn't perform the _one _jutsu Kakashi had handed down to him. Maybe it wasn't so wrong of Kakashi to have looked after Sasuke so well when they were younger. Sasuke was much like Kakashi in many ways; Naruto was unlike anyone alive. Cursed with the most powerful of demons, gifted with the oldest of bloodlines… to his knowledge, there wasn't anyone as unique as he was; and that was the problem. Who could train someone like that?

_"Do not look at it as defeat, master," _Kaze said, hovering just in front of Naruto's face. _"Look at it as a challenge. As you always have looked at such problems. For every problem, there is a solution, whether it is given or achieved. And there is much, much more in store for you, Uzumaki Naruto. I can feel it."_

Naruto perked up at this.

"Thank you, Kaze," he said. He looked up at the fox with a cheeky grin. "Anything you want to say, you big ball of considerate fur?"

The Kyuubi's great cavernous maw leaned close to the bars again. In a loud and rumbling voice, he said one thing as he grinned.

**"Meatsack."**

* * *

><p><em> I enjoyed writing this chapter during the first go around, and I liked it even more once it was expanded. I think I cleared up a few issues in this chapter, and set it the story up for much more than I originally had planned. Like usual, please leave me good, meaty reviews so I can contemplate on how I should go about working on this story. I really enjoy the feedback! Flames and rants welcome, too! -Hangovergoblin<em>


	3. Chapter III

_Raijin_

_Chapter III_

_In hindsight, there were so many excellent things I could do with this story and everything that goes along with it. I think this time, I'll get it right. Luckily, I'm on complete lockdown at my house for being arrested, so hey, who knows how this'll go. I have a lot of free time on my hands, so I think I can manage finishing out the series over the next couple of months. Thanks for sticking with me! –Hangovergoblin. "Nave orined Kramllah!"_

* * *

><p>"Gah!"<p>

Naruto kicked the edge of the door frame, leaving a splintered area behind. "I can't believe he's here_ again._" He stopped, glaring at the bed on which Sasuke was now laying. Orochimaru was never going to give them a break as long as Sasuke was still loyal and Itachi was still powerful. "Honestly!" he shouted, slumping against the doorframe. He tried to reign in the anger that was now starting to pulse through him, but had little to no desire to truly keep it in check. Sakura and the others was the only reason he didn't go into a fit of rage. Naruto was not prone to angry outbursts, but Orochimaru was a subject that could do it.

"Shh, Naruto! Let Sasuke have his rest!"

Naruto glanced out of the corner of his eye at Sakura, who was sitting on the edge of the bed with a damp washcloth. Sasuke was still sweating quite profusely as the antivenin went to work in his body, ridding the poison through his sweat glands. "I'm sorry, Sakura," he said, turning to look at her. He slumped back against the doorframe and sighed heavily. "I guess...," he began, staring up at the ceiling, "that I was an idiot in thinking the Orochimaru problem had been solved once we'd retrieved Sasuke." Naruto's eyes moved over to where Kakashi and Jiraiya were conversing almost silently. "I thought that if I brought Sasuke back, Orochimaru would just disappear."

"I guess not," he added.

Sakura studied Sasuke's face, which was constantly twitching as if in pain.

"Well, it's not like we ever expected any of this to happen, Naruto. Why Sasuke, why me, why you, you know? Have you ever read the records of the other team sevens? All of them ended in some form of tragedy or loss." She shook her head. "Maybe that's what's going to happen to us." She closed her eyes, leaning her head back. "Maybe we're just headed for disaster."

Naruto stood up, but stayed by the door way. He reached over for the light switch and flipped it off, leaving Sakura to the recovering Sasuke in darkness. "I don't think so," he replied, adopting a small smile. "Even if we are," he said, "I'll do whatever I can to prevent it."

* * *

><p>"I don't like this, Kakashi. Not at all. All my intelligence had led me to believe Orochimaru was still recovering from a body switch," Jiraiya declared, leaning against the counter in the hotel room's mini-kitchen. Kakashi was sitting in the kitchen's solitary chair, arms folded. His one eye glanced over at movement in the doorway. Someone had turned the lights off in the bedroom. "So what do we do?" he asked, turning his attention back to Jiraiya. The older man was one of the wisest in Konoha, and had an extensive spy network throughout every elemental country.<p>

"Eh, the only thing we can do right now is wait. We can't make a move on the Oto-nin, because of the circumstantial evidence. We'd also practically start a war if we got caught in the act, too."

He sighed heavily. "As frustrating as it is, we have absolutely nothing that could prove Orochimaru was behind this."

Kakashi nodded, his hand coming up to his chin in a thinking pose.

"Maybe not," Kakashi said. "But at the same time... With the Chuunin exams starting in three days, I believe there might be a little maneuvering room when they begin. The Chuunin Exams have always been the stage for political battles, head-butting matches, and assassinations. It's impossible to have so many enemies together in one place without conflict."

Jiraiya smirked. "What are you proposing, then, Kakashi?"

The grey haired man sitting in the chair stood up, the mask on his face revealing a devilish smile. Jiraiya was surprised at the rare show of emotion from Kakashi.

"I think the power base back in Oto might be short a few jounin when the teams return."

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Naruto was lying on the couch, asleep, with Kakashi and Jiraiya still talking in the kitchen. Sakura was still in Sasuke's room, asleep in the chair beside the night stand.<p>

Sasuke, however, was not asleep. A few moments nefore, he'd bolted upright, Sharingan blazing as a spasm of pain interrupted what little precious sleep his recovering body had gotten. He was covered in cold sweat. Looking down at his partially uncovered leg, the Sharingan cut through the darkness to reveal the leg was still swollen, but not to the extent it had been when he'd fallen unconscious. He was glad to see Naruto and Sakura had retrieved him so quickly. Otherwise, he would have been a goner for sure.

He was also pleased to see Naruto had the courtesy of placing his chokuto beside him on the nightstand.

"God damn Orochimaru," Sasuke whispered to himself as he collapsed back onto the bed, returning to blissful unconsciousness as exhaustion overtook him again.

* * *

><p>Morning came early for Jiraiya and Naruto, who set out into Kusa to gather intelligence. After shrugging into his ANBU armor and orange trenchcoat, they had both departed at around seven, hoping to visit a few restaurants, where, hopefully, a few of the waitresses had overheard some of the Oto-nin conversing about where they were lodged and who their superiors might be. Unfortunately, as the clock's hands reached noon, there had been no leads whatsoever.<p>

"This is serious crap, Ero-Sennin," Naruto whined as they walked down Kusa's main district. The teen had done well for his first intelligence gathering trip, not once arguing with Jiraiya or whining about the lack of leads. Jiraiya knew that could end at any time, and now here it was. He could not, however, argue with the boy's point. This really was a load of crap. How could they have not found a lead by now? A bread crumb, trail of bodies, something would have at least sufficed.

Jiraiya shrugged. "Well, we still have a couple of days. We've searched the whole city, more or less, so all that we can do is wait for nightfall."

Naruto cursed under his breath. "Do we really have to wait?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Yeah. Well, you don't. I'm not letting you come tonight. It'll be fishy for someone as yourself to be asking about Oto's movements here in Kusa, even if you are a shinobi."

The blonde beside him stopped in his tracks, arms folded. He had a frown on his face, too. "Why the hell can't I go? Sasuke's lying unconscious in Kakashi's room because or Orochimaru's asshole nin, and you're not gonna let me go find them?"

Jiraiya stopped, too, and returned the frown with his best death glare.

"You heard me, Naruto. You're not coming. And as for Sasuke... He should be fully recovered by tonight, anyway. He's probably already up and around right now. The anti-inflammatories have probably done their job spectacularly. Not calm down and stop acting like a child." Jiraiya kept his death glare up. "Go train. If memory serves me right, you still have a few techniques you need to work on."

The older man stalked off in the direction of the hotel, not even bothering to look back at his student. Naruto knew where his obligations laid. Jiraiya had faith that Naruto would do exactly what he was told for now. He did not, however, have any doubt that Naruto, come nightfall, would be off on the town, trying to find out what he could. Hell, he might even take Sasuke, who would be recovered by then, with him. There was just no stopping the jinchuuriki when he wanted to really do something.

Naruto was left standing there, stewing in his own anger and disappointment over being denied by his sensei. It was true that he had to work out the counterattack flaw caused by Chidori, but he was still unsure how to go about it. The blonde jinchuuriki spun on his heel and headed to the border of Kusagakure. Maybe he could get something done on the plains that stretched out from the city.

* * *

><p>Hinata grabbed the limb of the tree and nimbly swung herself up onto the bough.<p>

This particular tree was one of the few that grew outside of Kusagakure. They dotted the plains loosely and were the only recourse from the heat of the midday sun, which made them perfect to train near.

She had been in Kusa with team eight for around three days now, and had only just gotten away from them for some much needed practice.

Hinata, in Naruto's absence, had not slacked off. Since he had left two years ago for his training mission, she had fought and practiced and fought some more to come out of her small shell. She had made a great improvement when it came to her confidence in battle. Around six months after Naruto left, she had beaten Hanabi in a sparring match. It had been close, but she had still defeated her. Eight months after he had left, Hinata had defeated Hanabi soundly, and with little effort. Ten months, and she was taking on Neji. Granted, she was still badly beaten by her older cousin, but she had fared much better than in the last Chuunin Exams.

Her relationship had improved greatly with Neji over the course of the past year, too.

Instead of wishing for her death, he now could hold small conversations with her. He had even helped her with her taijutsu a little, correcting her forms and showing her better ways of performing the attacks. All in all, Hinata was proud of herself for the first time in her life, for her abilities and newfound relationship with her sister and cousin. Even her father had taken the time to praise her on several occasions.

Hinata was nearly shaken from the tree as an explosion rocked the area around her. She looked off in the direction from whence it came, but could not over the rolling hills that covered the area. Her tree had grown in a small dip in the earth, which had shielded it from the sometimes hurricane-force winds.

"Byakugan," she whispered.

The veins around her eyes bulged with increased blood flow as her vision amplified and focused on the area on the other side of the hill. She gasped when she saw what had caused the explosion.

A person was standing in the middle of a small crater, his hand held out to his side. It was glowing with an eerie light as multitudes of small lightning bolts arced out from it.

"Sasuke?" she asked herself, but shook her head. It wasn't Sasuke. Her x-ray like vision did not have color once it passed through a solid object, so she was at a loss at who it could be. She had seen Sasuke use the technique during the last Chuunin exam on his foe, Gaara of the Sand, and had heard someone say it was Kakashi's original jutsu, but she could tell it wasn't Kakashi standing there, either. This person was too short to be the legendary Scarecrow.

She threw her hands over her mouth as he turned around, thanking god her feet braced her in the tree.

It was Naruto. Not the pudgy, hyperactive Naruto she had known back in Konoha, but an extremely attractive, muscled, powerful Naruto. From his long, golden hair, down to his exposed, defined chest, all the way down to the powerful legs hidden by his pants.

Hinata leapt from the tree, intent on getting a better voyeuristic pleasure by moving closer. She slid to a quick stop before the crest of the hill, and then laid down on her stomach. Peeking her head over the hill, she could see him perfectly.

"Chidori!" he roared, aiming at a Kage Bunshin who was holding a katana at the ready. His body shifted, then without warning, shot toward the bunshin, arm outstretched. The bunshin raised the Katana, poised to cut straight through Naruto when he got close enough. The original blurred out of sight, and when he returned into the normal field of vision, his arm was through the bunshin and out the back. Bolts began to arc further away and with more intensity from the Chidori as the second stage began to initiate. Naruto put his other hand on the bunshin's shoulder and pushed as hard as he could. The clone slid back from the boy's arm, pausing only when the fist was centered directly in the body.

Then, in a brilliant blue flash that blinded Hinata's Byakugan, the clone exploded.

"Gah!" Hinata yelled as she recoiled from the flash, clutching her eyes as they streamed tears from the pain. She couldn't believe she didn't think to close them when she saw the bunshin's inner coils fuse as the all the extra chakra surged through them. She should have known it would explode violently.

A shadow appeared over her in an instant, taking hold of her shoulders, pinning her gently. She could tell it was Naruto from the panic in his voice, asking her if she was alright. "H-h-h-hai!" she gasped out, unsure if it was the pain making her stutter or Naruto.

"Hinata, what are you doing here?" he asked as she blinked to lessen the pain in her eyes.

She looked up at him, finally releasing the Byakugan. He was gorgeous.

"I... I... W-w-was t-t-training!" she squeaked out. She could hold her own in a battle, speak with little stutter to her sensei and family, but she could not, for the life of her, speak to Uzumaki Naruto.

"Really?" he asked, smiling at her. "I was, too," he proclaimed, his smile twisting into wide grin. Hinata felt her cheeks begin to turn crimson as the blood rushed into them. She closed her eyes, hoping he'd mistake it for the pain that had afflicted her from the flash.

"Do you want to spar? I haven't sparred with anyone since I got to Kusa!"

She opened her eyes, blinking owlishly. "S-s-s-s-spar with y-you?"

* * *

><p>Sasuke leapt onto the balcony, perching there like a hawk.<p>

His sharingan activated, searching the city for something, anything. He wanted to know who tried to kill him last night. He wanted to kill whoever had sent that snake after him. He reached into his front pocket, pulling out a small metal plate about the width of four fingers, and placed it in the zipper on his vest. Content with the way the plate sat over his heart, he looked out over the city once more, then leapt down onto the street.

He knew it was a bad idea.

He knew that going out like this, alone, like he had the other night was dangerous. Especially since someone knew they could get the drop on him. He wasn't sure if he'd let them, though, considering he had wisened up to their tricks. He mentally scoffed at the thought that someone could fool him twice. He was an Uchiha, after all.

"Sasuke."

Sasuke sighed. He had been caught in the act.

"Yes, Kakashi?" He turned to look at the scarecrow, who was leaning against the post right under their balcony. How could he not have noticed him? Then Sasuke remembered the last sparring match he, Kakashi, and Sakura had partook of. Kakashi was not the sort of man who'd blunder around like a bull in a china shop.

"What are you doing?"

Should he lie? Could Sasuke lie? Kakashi would know.

"Just going out for a stroll," Sasuke said emotionlessly. He was hoping it would make him seem like he didn't care if Kakashi let him go or not.

"I think you should probably get a little more rest. It's only three in the afternoon."

Sasuke swore mentally. Foiled again.

"Okay," he said, making his way to the door. "That sounds like a good idea."

Kakashi nodded. "Yes. I'll be right outside if you need me."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. What Kakashi had really said was, "I don't trust you, so I'm standing guard to make sure you don't kill yourself."

Naruto was right, Sasuke realized. He was treated like a prince by Kakashi. Guarded like one, too.

* * *

><p>Orochimaru hissed.<p>

Not a human hiss, but an angry, serpentine, evil hiss.

"What?" he screamed, face contorted in anger. "How dare they interfere?"

He glared at the pictures of the body. He knew the unmistakable serrations carved through the corpse. He knew who had made them, too. He screamed once more in frustration, throwing the pictures across the room. Eyes burning with rage, he pointed at the nearest of his Jounin. "You!" he screeched, stomping over to the man. Orochimaru drew back and slapped him as hard as he could without throwing the man into unconsciousness. "You failed to kill Sasuke with the summon-scroll I gave you!" He slapped him again, leaving a nasty bruise. The snake's eyes snapped to another. "And you! You should die right now for not finishing Sasuke off when the other Jounin failed!" He grabbed the man by the throat, lifting him up into the air. The man gasped for air, clawing at the snake's pale hands as they squeezed the life from him.

"I should sacrifice you all to... Manda..."

His eyes developed a considerably malicious glint to them.

"Yes... Yes. That's a good idea. Manda will be pleased with jounin." His tongue snaked out, licking his lips. Manda would be appeased, meaning he'd be able to use him the next time he summoned the giant cobra to this plane of existence.

"Get out of my sight!" he screamed, his smirk turning once again into the face of anger and rage. He threw the dying Jounin on the floor and returned to his makeshift throne he'd brought from Oto. Draping himself over it, he allowed the remaining Jounin in the room to usher out the injured ones. They closed the door on their way out, revealing an emotionless Kabuto. Orochimaru sneered at him.

"What do you want?" he asked, words dripping with venom.

Kabuto stepped forward, readjusting his glasses.

"Looks like Akatsuki is active again. How will we deal with the threat?"

Orochimaru snorted. "They're probably after the Jinchuuriki here. There are two of them present."

"And Uzumaki-san?" Kabuto asked.

The snake in front of him hissed, his eyes narrowing.

"Most likely... He stole Sasuke from me, didn't he?" The slits in Orochimaru's eyes constricted until they were bare slivers. "He shan't cross me again. Put the word out, Kabuto. I want the fox-boy's head on my table once we're out of this damnable exam. He's the first meal I want to sit down to when we arrive back in Oto."

"Yes, my lord," Kabuto said, bowing deeply. As he turned, his face paled at the disgusting thought.

* * *

><p>"You know, Hinata, you're not bad at all!" Naruto grinned as he avoided another strike. It was perfectly placed, on a collision course with his sternum, but it lacked power, including the chakra needed to make the Jyuuken work. Hinata was holding back on the actual technique. She was obviously afraid of hurting him. He knew she was kinder and gentler than her cousin, Neji, who would have probably tried to cut off any and every tenketsu he could get his hands on. Naruto was considerably faster than the last time he had fought with Neji, though, even without the Fuujin.<p>

Hinata's brows furrowed, causing the bulging veins around her eyes to squeeze even tighter. Naruto was so fast.

"T-Thank you," she exhaled as she threw another strike at his shoulder. She didn't know if he was just playing with her, or if he was really trying, but she couldn't get a bead on him. It was like playing with the neighborhood spastic. He kept slipping away from her randomly, staying just out of her reach. She was starting to get a bit winded, too; they had been at this for about thirty minutes. Half an hour, and he still wasn't breathing hard or sweating.

Naruto dodged again, twisting elegantly in a Hyuuga-ish manner, grinning even harder. He was mocking her!

Hinata knew on a base level that he was just playing. This was a game for him. It wasn't even a serious sparring match with his ridiculous speed. That thought alone made her quite angry in a very un-Hyuuga-ish way. Her eyebrows furrowed further as the frustration darkened her pale eyes.

In a burst of speed and concentration, she broke his guard and slammed a palm into his stomach.

He doubled over coughing and in pain, but quite glad she had decided to withhold the chakra. Naruto held up a hand as the other clutched his stomach. Hinata, though, was already freaking out. Unfortunately for Hinata, freaking out meant she was lying face up on the ground, unconscious. Naruto stood back up and scratched his head, watching the now-sleeping Hinata. He turned as he heard a sigh come from behind him.

"Yeah, good one, Dead-Last," Sasuke quipped, rolling his eyes. "Girls would like you better if you didn't knock them unconscious all the time."

Naruto sneered in his direction, mocking him. "Yeah, yeah, pretty boy. You always talk but you never say anything." He nodded his head in Hinata's direction. "I guess I'm taking her back to town. Don't know where she's staying, though." He picked her up carefully, afraid to bump her around anymore. Sasuke gave an apathetical shrug. "Just take her to Sakura," he said. "Besides," he added, "we've got some snooping to do around town."

"Really?"

The whites of Naruto's eyes turned blue as four black, upside down triangles jutted from his pupil. A faint whistling filled Sasuke's ears as the wind began to blow just a little bit harder.

"Yeah," Sasuke confirmed as they began to run. Gradually picking up the pace, they were soon travelling at a blistering rate. "I want to find him." Naruto sent the Uchiha a sideways look as they ran. "That might not be a good idea, Sasuke. I mean, you did just recover from the snake bite." Sasuke shrugged again.

"So?" he asked. "Okay, so maybe it isn't the best idea," Sasuke agreed, "but we should at least try to find something out. Something useful. I've practically been in a coma for a day now." He sighed.

Naruto grinned. "We sigh and shrug more than Shikamaru. We may have him beat."

Sasuke shook his head, smiling, as they ran back to Kusa. Maybe they would make headway tonight.

* * *

><p><em>F-f-f-f-finished! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. As always, leave me reviews and whatnot. I always enjoy those! Even the flames and the rampant criticism! –Hangovergoblin<em>

_P.S. Due to the whole of the Rookie 9 being thirteen and fourteen, I think it's time for a little romance on the side. Give me pairings for Team 7, and ye shall receive! Maybe. –Hangovergoblin, again._

_P.P.S. This is a post post script. _


	4. Chapter IV

Raijin

Chapter IV

_Ooooh, did I throw in some goodies for everyone here tonight. Action! Bravado! Death! Suspense! I hope you guys really, really, really enjoy this action-packed chapter of Raijin. And if you guys like this one, you're gonna wet your pants when the Chuunin Exams manage to roll around. This chapter was brutal to write, and it's pretty much all done out of my ass, seeing as how I only managed to write up to Chapter III on my first go around. Enjoy Chapter IV of Raijin!_

_This is dedicated to , who is so impatient, she's alway fussing over things in my story. ;D Here you go, dear!_

* * *

><p>Naruto rolled his eyes as Sakura fussed over Hinata.<p>

His head jerked toward the door, silently motioning for Sasuke to retreat from the presence of the pinkette. He followed soon after, escaping quietly into the hallway. Naruto looked out the window, and discovered the full moon illuminated the city streets with its baleful glow. It was yellow that night.

Sasuke was already down the hall, beckoning for Naruto to hop out of the window that lead to the alley beside the building.

They stayed silent as they slunk down the alley, then, as the crowds of the festival grew thick around the stands in front of them, they slipped into the crowd.

It was not very hard to find Oto-nin.

They were malicious, belligerent, and bellicose people. Always spoiling for a fight to show how dominant they were, how well they had been trained. It had been a simple stroke of luck that the two friends had stumbled upon the bar in which most of the Oto-nin frequented. Safety in numbers, they guessed.

They had only been walking for around ten minutes when a waitress came tumbling out of the arched door of the bar, spilling the contents of the jug she was holding all over the ground. Behind her, raucous laughter followed her heels. She reached for the jug and scurried away, possibly to the back door of the establishment, with a horrible blush on her face.

Sasuke and Naruto simultaneously threw a sidelong glance at each other and retreated to another of the alleyways behind the bar. Glancing around with the Sharingan activated, Sasuke gave the clear for Naruto to jump to the top of the building. He followed soon after. The Sharingan worked wonders at night with its penetrating gaze. As Sasuke scanned the surrounding rooftops for intruders, Naruto checked the building for balconies or entrances where they might be able to enter unnoticed by the Oto-nin.

"Found anything?"

Naruto looked back at Sasuke and nodded. "Window," he said, pointing over the edge. Sasuke smiled. He ran across the rooftop and leapt onto the adjacent wall. Adhering to the surface with chakra, Sasuke eased himself down a little to get a better look through the window. It appeared to be an office of some sort. Best of all, it was an empty office, too. He leapt across the alleyway again, this time sticking to the wall beside the window. He jimmied the lock a little bit, and with some applied chakra, he popped it open and swung himself inside.

He leaned back out of the window and waved Naruto in.

Naruto hung himself from the building's edge and let go. He caught the top windowsill as he fell and swung himself into the office. "Should I close the window? We may need a way out," he asked. Sasuke shook his head. "If we need a way out, we'll find one." The Uchiha moved over to the door and listened. Satisfied that no one was about to walk down the hallway, he eased the door open and glanced down the hall again. He turned back to Naruto and waved him on, giving him the silence sign at the same time.

They both moved down the hallway quickly, like ghosts haunting a house.

"I swear to god, if I have to deal with those fucking brats any more tonight, I'm gonna fucking kill myself!"

Sasuke and Naruto froze instantly. They heard the loud, belligerent woman before they saw her. Instinctively, Naruto's Fuujin activated as he grabbed the back of Sasuke's vest, catapulting them down the hallway and back into the room. They took hiding places instantly in the office, transforming into a pair of non-descript items. Seconds ticked by as the listened to the footsteps. The woman raged on even as she passed the door, cursing 'the brats' for all she was worth. Her flaming red hair whipped around as she shook her head. From across the room, Naruto knew Sasuke's eyes had narrowed when he saw that. It was not difficult to place the hair and the loud cursing.

Apparently, Tayuya of the Sound Four was still alive. While Naruto doubted that would cause any potential problems, he couldn't possibly know what the future would bring, so he resolved to tell Kakashi as soon as they returned to the hotel. An even greater question was now posed; how many of the Sound Four had actually survived the mission a year ago?

As Tayuya retreated into a room further down the hall, Naruto and Sasuke dispelled the henge and moved back to the corner. Finally content with the silence that filled the hall, they moved on.

They reached the stairs soon after that, and after some minimal fussing, transformed into two Oto-nin.

The bar was just as tumultuous as it had been ten minutes ago; obnoxious laughs and angry yells filled the seedy pub. Cigarrette smoke filled the air near the ceiling.

Naruto and Sasuke walked brazenly into the room (not that anyone cared), and sat down at the bar.

Lo and behold, the first thing they heard was 'Orochimaru.'

Naruto saw Sasuke stiffen at the name, then watched as Sasuke turned his head a little, intent on hearing the conversation better.

"... and he had them all killed. Sacrificed to Manda last night. Took them out on the plains where the wind would sweep the summoning smoke away pretty fast. The cobra ate every one of them."

It was hushed, but not impossible to catch. Apparently, several of the Oto-shinobi had taken quite the dirt nap last night. Death by serpentine massacre. Naruto shivered at the thought. He had been eaten by a snake once, too, in the Forest of Death. He did not view it as a pleasant experience, either.

"What'll ya' have?"

Naruto snapped from his reverie and looked up at the bartender, who was leaning quite apathetically against the counter.

"Eh...," Naruto hesitated, scratching the back of his head. "Sake?"

The balding man closed his eyes in agitation. It almost seemed as if all of his customers never knew what they wanted until he asked them. "Sure," he grunted, turning back to the drinks. Naruto shook his head, muttering a curse under his breath at the man. People like that really ground his gears.

"Yeah," the nin behind him continued. "I just hope Kabuto knows what he's doing. It's gonna be a real pain for all of us if we slip up on this one. After that invasion, it's pretty unsurprising the other nations are holding us at arms length. The only reason the Tsuchikage and Raikage have anything to do with us is because they hate Konoha."

Sasuke threw a sidelong glance at Naruto who rolled his eyes in return. That wasn't much of a secret in anyone's book.

The nin lowered his voice some more. "Hopefully," he said, glancing around before continuing, "Orochimaru'll be able to use that thing he's been talking about. Maybe shit won't be shot to hell right away, you know?" The rest of the oto-nin around him nodded or said 'aye,' and went back to nursing their drinks.

That piqued the two teammates' interest. What could Orochimaru possibly have this time? The possibilities were endless.

* * *

><p>"Son of a-"<p>

A sound that resembled that of a harpoon crashing into the side of a whale tore through the alleyway. Black threads, huge mockeries of the ones used in making cheap dolls, hung from a hulking shadow on the top of one of the buildings. Hanging from the threads below was a shape that might've resembled a man moments before, but was now twisted into a parody of the original shape. Arms and legs bent at extreme angles as the threads pulled at them, each one ripping with a nauseating noise as the person was pulled apart viciously. The last thing anyone or anything might have heard from the man was a death ratlle, and the sounds of muscle tearing.

His hitai-ate had a music note on it.

* * *

><p>"Holy hell..."<p>

Naruto was crouched on the bulding opposite of the bar, looking over the edge at the scene in the alley below. At night, the mess below would have looked like an oil spill, but there was no mistaking the metallic tang on his tongue as he breathed in the night air. This was not an oil spill, it was a huge pool of blood. He could see small chunks of meat in the pool, and a limb hanging limply out of a trash can to the side.

"This couldn't have been here when we leapt across earlier," Sasuke remarked as he joined Naruto on the edge. "I would have seen it with the Sharingan." Naruto threw a sidelong glance at Sasuke and huffed. "Yeah," he said, "as if anyone could miss a huge pool of congealing blood in the middle of an alley as they jumped across." He rolled his eyes. "I wonder who did this." His eyes dilated, the irises and pupils inverted colors, and the windmills expanded into the whites of his eyes. The world around him instantly shifted colors as the miniscule wind currents and after-effects of chakra usage became irradiated in shocking hues of greens, yellows, and blues.

"There's nothing around the body that indicates any type of chakra usage. Whatever ripped him apart did it with force alone. This wasn't a jutsu," Naruto said, his eyebrows furrowing. "This guy died one hell of a painful death. We should probably tell Kakashi something foul is afoot here." Sasuke guffawed, causing Naruto to look up. His eyebrow was quirked. "Yeah?" Sasuke shook his head. "Just an odd choice of words. 'Afoot'? Who says that anymore?"

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're such an ass sometimes, Sasuke."

Sasuke grinned as he shrugged. "You're the one using antiquated phrases. Don't get pissy with me. We should probably go tell Kakashi now, though. I'd hate for anything foul to be... Ahand here." Naruto gave him a shove to the shoulder. "Ahand isn't even a word, you asshole!" Sasuke chuckled. "I know."

"Oh…"

Naruto held his hand out, letting the cool drops of rain that were now falling splash in his palm. "Sasuke," He said, looking up at the sky. "It's raining."

Little did they know, they were being watched by two pairs of eyes atop the building adjacent to theirs. The building had two extra levels, leaving the two interlopers concealed by height. The first of the two pairs of eyes belong to a young man with brown hair; he had on a Jounin outfit, and was crouched closest to the edge of the building. The second was one that Naruto and Sasuke were very familiar with; he was the glasses wearing assistant of Orochimaru, Kabuto. Kabuto was standing beside the other boy with his hand on the chuunin's shoulder.

"Do it," he said. His hand squeezed tighter on the boy's shoulder for confirmation.

Sasuke watched in slow motion as an arc of lightning shot down from the sky in slow motion. It was absolutely beautiful through his Sharingan eyes. He watched as it arc from the cloud and onto the roof of the building adjacent beside them. It paused momentarily on the roof, then arced again, aiming at the very spot they were standing.

Sasuke was fast enough to react. He pushed off the roof with his powerful legs, sending him flying backwards. Naruto, on the other hand, was not, nor could he see the lightning bolt in slow motion like Sasuke. The Uchiha realized too late that he should have jumped forward to push Naruto and himself out of the way, rather than jumping backwards. He could see the curious look on Naruto's face as he jumped backwards, as if questioning what Sasuke was doing.

He saw the lightning bolt impact Naruto in the center of his chest, leaving a smoking, sizzling hole. As the 10,000 volts coursed through his body, t he boy spasmed once, then fell to the floor of the roof, lifelessly. The rain falling on his body sizzled as it turned to steam on contact with the hole. Sasuke's eyes widened with terror. It looked like the whole he made at the Valley of The End. His eyes turned up towards the roof of the building beside them, and his eyes narrowed into a glare so full of hatred it made Kabuto shrink backwards from the edge of the roof.

"We have to go, now!" Kabuto yelled at his companion as he turned and began to run. The boy followed suit. Kabuto took two steps and heard a hideous sound behind him. His morbid curiosity getting the best of him even in the flight for his life, he turned his head to look.

His former associate was levitating an inch off the ground, held aloft by the finely crafted silver blade of the White Fang. Sasuke was standing behind him, his face splashed with crimson, the Mangekyou Sharingan blazing. The body gave a juddering lurch to the left as he prepared to pull the blade from the corpse.

With a powerful pull to one side, the White Fang exited the oto-nin's side under his ribcage with a sickening sound, and his entrails spilled out all over the roof.

Kabuto began to run as fast as he could. If he could make it back to the Otogakure safehouse, he'd be okay.

* * *

><p><strong>"Aaaaah, I love being right."<strong>

"_Just because you told me he had something left in him after awakening me, doesn't mean you can be counted as right, fox."_

Naruto rubbed his head as he picked himself up off his mindscape's floor. He stood up and shook his head of the rest of the mental cobwebs, and tried to form a coherent thought.

"Why am I here?" he asked. He was miffed that he had been called here again. He was really getting tired of these little meetings the Kyuubi liked to call lately.

**"He doesn't know, then… Interesting."**

The massive beast leaned in towards the bars, a pose that had long ago become his favorite. It showed off his fanged maw and perpetually bloodshot eyes perfectly.

Naruto scratched his head. "Know what?"

The Kyuubi laughed. **"What else, boy?" **He paused for dramatic effect. **"You're dead." **

* * *

><p>Line!<p>

Sasuke chased after Kabuto like a man possessed. He hadn't felt like this in a year… Not since he first started to battle Naruto at the Valley of the End. The blood sang in his veins as he was overcome with an incredible bloodlust. He was going to squash the maggot that was Kabuto once and for all. Once he was removed from the equation, Sasuke could kill Orochimaru with Naruto as they pleased.

Kabuto ran as fast as he could, ignoring the rain spattering against his glasses; he was in a chase for his life, and he did not enjoy being the mouse. Usually, it was the other way around. What had he gotten himself into? When Orochimaru ordered the Uzumaki boy killed, he hadn't planned on being the one who was sent to do it. It made sense, though, for Orochimaru to send his second in command to ensure the mission went successful. "Take a shinobi with you. One who can kill the brat, and make sure the job is complete," the snake had hissed.

Kabuto looked behind him, locking eyes with the enraged Uchiha. A mad expression was on the teen's normally composed face. Kabuto had really stepped into it this time.

* * *

><p>"I-I'm dead? Like, for good? Then how are we still here?" Naruto cried out.<p>

The Kyuubi looked up at Kaze, who had been hovering next to his head.

"**The brat figured it out, then. We can never have fun." **The great beast's lower lip curled over his bottom teeth in a nightmare-ish pout. Kaze shook the orb that was his body back and forth.

"_Your sense of humor is a bit different from mine…" _

"_And from mine!"_

The voice boomed around the cavern like it had been said through a megaphone. It sounded not unlike a clap of thunder. The Kyuubi rolled its bloodshot eyes. **"Dramatics. Do people never get tired of dramatic revelations?" **

Naruto looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. "Who are you?" he called, and as an afterthought, "why is there someone else in my head? I'm beginning to feel like a schizophrenic." A flash of lightning followed his statement, slamming into the ground and leaving behind a smoking... weasel? Said weasel looked up at him with golden eyes that had slitted pupils, almost like a snake. "Hello."

Naruto took a step back with a dumbstruck look on his face. "Wha-wha-what the fuck?"

"You seem surprised, Naruto. As Kaze had put it, you should have already grown to be used to strange voices in your head. Is it so scary that you have another one floating around?" the weasel asked. It sat up on its haunches and cocked its head to the side, waiting expectantly on an answer.

"Uhm, Yes," the teen deadpanned. "It's not like I don't mind some company... Things are just getting a little weird around here. And who are you, anyway?"

The weasel tutted in a very human fashion. "I don't have a name. Don't need one, because I'm not getting too attached to you. You've already died once, right? Odds are, once you pop out of this little thing you have set up here, you're gonna die for good."

**"Uhhh... Not exactly, weasel."**

The weasel looked up at the fox behind the bars with a questioning gaze. "What?"

The king of beasts sighed. **"It's not really possible for Naruto to die unless the seal is destroyed or cataclysmic damage is done to his body, like being hacked in half... My youki holds him in a state of perfect health, and knits back anything short of dismemberment... Even if he was was disembowled, as long as the seal is intact, I could probably knit the blond asshole back together. If the seal goes, I go, and so does he." **

The weasel made an 'o' with his mouth. "Ah."

"Well, anyways... That lightning bolt you just took to the chest pulled me from the elemental plane and threw me here. Don't really care about the whys or the hows."

Naruto shook his head. This was getting out of control. Why did everyone have to be pulled into _his _mindscape from god knows where? He voiced his opinions as such.

The weasel shot him a look like he was an ignorant fool, which the boy returned with a glare.

"You're the first Jin in forty generations or so, boy. Our elemental bonds to the Jin pull us here to this plane whenever one activates his power. You, apparently, was struck by lightning and killed, leaving a momentary lapse in the walls that hold our worlds apart. Whenever a Jin activates their power, one of us is called, depending on the hereditary affinity they have. You, I suppose, have two. This is a strange case indeed, though, because no Jin, and I mean _no Jin, _has ever had multiple affinities."

Naruto paused. So, he was different from everyone else in _another _way. Wonderful. He turned his gaze back up to Kaze and the Kyuubi, who both shrugged. _**"He has a point," **_they both said in unison. The extended period of time together was really getting to them. It was creepy to hear the Kyuubi identify with anyone in any form of above average familiarity.

"So what does that mean, though? Naruto asked. He really was confused as hell by the whole situation. Why couldn't anyone _ever_ give him a straight answer?

"It means you are a Raijin, Naruto. On top of being a Fuujin, the gods or whoever's out there watching you has granted you another gift. As if the Kyuubi and the Fuujin wasn't enough," the weasel said, rolling his golden eyes. "Seriously, if you don't become one of the world's movers and shakers with all of this power, I'm going to head back to the elemental plane when you die and curse you to every one of my friends. You're waaaay to overpowered for your own good."

Naruto shot the weasel the most evil deathglare he could create. "You," he said, jabbing a finger at the small gold-furred ferret, "apparently haven't met the bad guys around here, then. Being in another world for forty generations means you don't know shit about what's going on in this world."

The weasel narrowed his eyes. "You will respect your elders, _child."_ The ferret swirled a pawed hand in the air three times and pointed it at Naruto, who was immediately struck by a lightning bolt from the ceiling. The boy was knocked back a couple of feet and into the water on the floor. The weasel advanced on his position, menacingly holding his paw up while walking on his two back legs. If Naruto hadn't been in pain, he would have laughed. Before the weasel could summon another bolt, though, to finish teaching Naruto his lesson, the Kyuubi's paw shot out from the cage and swiped the ferret back to the bars, holding him against the metal.

**"You **_**will **_**respect your master, **_**weasel," **_the king of beasts growled. Naruto was taken aback by how evil he sounded. It had been so long since he had heard that tone of awesome authority and power, he had forgotten the truly destructive nature of the beast locked in his stomach. Naruto picked himself up off the floor as the Kyuubi released the small ermine, who landed gingerly on his feet and dusted his fur off with his paws.

"Yes, well, then." He shot a look of apology to Naruto, who nodded in return.

"Sorry, I tend to have bouts of anger. Being a lightning elemental means I behave quite like a thunderstorm. Sometimes, I'm more bluster than anything. Anyways, you should probably get going back to your world. I think your friend may be biting off more than he can chew."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Oh, shit! Sasuke!"

* * *

><p>Sasuke performed the Shunshin and landed right on top of Kabuto.<p>

Stabbing the White Fang through the older teen's shoulder, he pinned Orochimaru's assistant to the roof of a building. Twisting the blade, Sasuke was rewarded with a sharp cry of pain from Kabuto, who had thought he had made it to safety.

_Wrong._

"You killed my friend," Sasuke said through clenched teeth, his Sharingan blazing like a wildfire. The tomoe began to spin rapidly and bleed into one another as they formed the Mangekyou Sharingan, the ultimate trump card of the Uchiha clan. Kabuto grasped weakly for the blade holding him to the ground. He wasn't going out like this. He couldn't. While he hated Orochimaru for some of the things he had done, the snake was still the only person who even came close to being like a father to the teen.

"You denied my master," Kabuto said through equally clenched teeth. His foot caught the ledge of the building. He had a plan, now.

"Your master is evil, Kabuto. And so are you, you traitorous scum. You're no better than Itachi." Sasuke took a kunai from the pouch at his waist and stabbed through Kabuto's hand, further pinning him to the roof of the building. The teen was going to enjoy killing Kabuto. The blood singing through his veins still, Sasuke kept a firm hold on White Fang while he reached for another kunai. He was going to pin the traitor's other hand to the surface below.

"I might not be any better than Itachi, Sasuke, but you'll never be as strong as he is."

Kabuto, if anything, was a calculating man. All he needed was a pause, a loosening on the hold Sasuke had on him, and he could break free. Luckily, he knew Sasuke's sorest spot. His brother, the prodigal, murderous son of the Uchiha clan: Uchiha Itachi. Kabuto got that pause and took the advantage.

He pushed the ledge with his feet, sending the super sharp blade of the White Fang through his shoulder and out of its top. That same action had another set of consequences, too. Sasuke lost his balance on the rogue medic-nin and toppled off of him, whilst the same motion that toppled Sasuke also allowed Kabuto enough leverage to pull his hand free of the kunai. Healing himself with all he had, Kabuto took two lunging steps away from the downed Uchiha and jumped off the roof.

As his chakra began to surge for the familiar shunshin technique, he felt overjoyed that he had survived an encounter with the second most dangerous Uchiha alive. The chakra rose in his coils-

and stopped dead as a strong grip closed itself around his throat. The hand pushed him back towards the roof he had just left with enough momentum behind it to carry him across to the other side of said roof, and pin him to the ground again. Whoever was holding him was strong enough to send a buzzing sensation through his body.

Kabuto's eyes opened, and in the same motion, widened to saucer-size as he looked into the face of a very pissed off Uzumaki.

_The eyes..._

Naruto's eyes had a ring running a fraction of a centimeter around the iris, and had three black 'x's spinning in the ring. His eyes weren't the usual shocking blue, either; the color was slowly fading from blue to yellow, then finally to a deep golden color.

The first punch surprised Kabuto with its incredible force. Of course, it paled to being slapped by Orochimaru, but it still stung, even to his constantly regenerating body. The instantaneous bruise the blow left disappeared almost immediately after the blow had been struck as the collapsed veins knitted themselves back together. The second punch was as strong as the first, but broke his jaw on contact. Heat built up in his teeth and gums as the chakra began to repair the bone. The third punch was so vicious, it knocked Kabuto's eye out of its socket; the optic nerve reeled itself back in, though, and reset Kabuto's eye before the fourth punch landed.

The fourth punch never landed, though.

Kabuto opened his eyes again, and through cracked glasses, watched as Naruto was pinned to the ground by an Oto Jounin, and Sasuke was thrown off the roof, bodily, by a large Chuunin.

Kabuto could hear the Uzumaki screaming as he picked himself up off the ground and readjusted his glasses. The screaming was oddly muted, though, so Kabuto ran a hand over his ear and repaired the burst eardrum within. The sound of Naruto screaming grew clear as Kabuto came fully to his senses.

"Shut him up, will you, Dotou?"

The Jounin holding Naruto obliged and slammed a fist in to the boy's face, then covered the Uzumaki's mouth.

Kabuto stalked over, a malicious glint in his eye. He would repay the pain tenfold.

"Think you're a badass, don't you, Naruto?" he asked, taking off his glasses and rubbing them with his sash to remove the last bit of raindrops from them. "Think you're a real hero for coming after me like that, don't you? Trying to rescue Sasuke again?" The older teen laughed. "Pathetic," he said. "The poor little orphan Jinchuuriki with a hero-complex. You thought you could kill me?" Kabuto drew his hand back and slapped Naruto across the face, backhanded. "You need to learn some humility."

Naruto's face tightened into a glare over Dotou's hand. They had lost their golden color, and were now a stormy blue. Full of anger and hatred for the man in front of him. Naruto could feel something rising in him, but through the fog of being slapped so hard and of the rage over Sasuke being thrown from the roof, he couldn't really understand what it was. Byakaze hummed angrily in its sheath on his back, buzzing against the wood like an enraged bee.

The blood in his veins began to burn.

Kabuto slapped Naruto across the face again. He enjoyed that particular violent act; there was something so degrading about being slapped. The psychological effect was worth it alone. He failed to notice the blue in Naruto's eyes begin to darken as vestiges of purple began to invade the jinchuuriki's iris. The boy's considerably shaggy hair was hiding it, having been drenched by the rains that had become drizzle by now.

Naruto knew what was rising in him. Something he hadn't called on since the Valley of the End.

Dotou screamed as a pair of vicious fangs sank into the meat of his hand and tore a large chunk of flesh from the bones therein. Naruto's head snapped up as he gave in partially to the beast, flinging the hair out of his eyes and revealing deep crimson orbs: the color of freshly spilled blood.

Kabuto didn't have any time to react. Hatake Kakashi would have been hard pressed to move fast enough to escape the clawed hand that enclosed Kabuto's windpipe. What was it with this boy and choking his enemies to death?

Orochimaru's asisstant heard a gurgled scream behind Naruto; Dotou's throat had been slit by a kunai, and the other Jounin who had thrown Sasuke off the roof was lying on the floor with the White Fang protruding from his forehead.

As blood began to pump harder to escape the blocked veins in Kabuto's neck, his vision began to swim. He locked eyes with Naruto again, who still hadn't lost that evil red glare. The boy was truly a wonder. Orochimaru should have taken Naruto as a body to begin with, and left Sasuke to rot back in Konoha, friendless, alone, and obessessing over his older brother. But because Orochimaru hadn't killed either one back in the forest of death, the snake sannin had created a pair of enemies who would be extremely hard to deal with should they mature in their abilities.

As the last fleeting moments of Kabuto's rotten life ticked by, he could have sworn he heard the sound of birds chirping. How beautiful they sounded here on the rooftops of Kusagakure.

He gasped for air as the hold on his neck was loosened and a pair of intensely strong hands put him in a half-nelson, turning him to see the origin of the sound of chirping birds.

Sasuke plunged the Chidori into Kabuto's chest and gripped the older teen's heart with his hand.

Five thousand volts of electricity course through Kabuto's body much like it had coursed through Naruto's only minutes before. How those minutes seemed like an eternity ago to the dying Oto-nin.

Sasuke let the final bit of control go on the Chidori and exploded Kabuto's wicked heart, leaving nought but a smoking hole in the boy's chest.

* * *

><p><em>Phew... That was an intense scene to write. I think I captured the emotions well, but I'll let my reviewers be the judge of that. How did you guys like the end of the wicked medic, Kabuto? I thought it was a pretty fitting end, but don't get it twisted... It took everything Naruto and Sasuke had to kill a jounin level shinobi, albeit an extremely hard to kill jounin. Don't think that their eventual fight with Orochimaru is going to be a walk in the park, because it will be far from it. If you remember correctly, Kakashi was an extremely difficult fight for Sasuke and Sakura back before they left for Kusa, and he was a high level jounin. He wasn't even trying. Now, put it into perspective and think about the fight with Orochimaru. What would the two have to go through to kill a Kage level shinobi? Or could they even manage to kill him at all? Anyways, read and review, like always! -Hangovergoblin<em>

_P.S. to : I hope the chapter explains why this part of the series is called Raijin, my faithful fan! _


	5. Chapter V

_Raijin_

_Chapter V_

_There's not much action in this chapter, mind you, but there is a bit of character development. I don't really have much to say in the beginning author's note, so if you want to, you can start reading... Now! Hahaha. As always, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. -Hangovergoblin_

Orochimaru was far beyond mad. He was livid. And everyone who crossed his path that day felt it.

Kabuto had been missing for hours now; he hadn't checked in with anyone nor came back to the safehouse, which meant one thing. Kabuto, dear wicked Kabuto, was dead.

And that made Orochimaru furious.

Who could have killed the medic? Besides the Kages visiting in Kusagakure for the Chuunin Exams and a select few ninja like his old teammate, Jiraiya, there was no one in the village who could have killed Kabuto. His asisstant was far too wiley and resourceful to have been taken down by anyone less than a high level Jounin. So who was to blame for the untimely death of his associate? Surely not the Uzumaki boy; sure he had power, but he couldn't have sucessfully killed Naruto. Sasuke was out of the question, too. While he had survived the bite of the Firesnake, Orochimaru still believed the boy would have been nearly completely comatose; only a powerful antivenin could have calmed the raging venom in the boy's system.

Orochimaru paced his makeshift throneroom, mentally ticking off the people who could have assassinated his asisstant. At this point, he could only hope that Kabuto had at least been successful in killing off that troublesome Jinchuuriki. If Naruto was removed from the picture, that was one less person Orochimaru would have to worry about getting in the way of his plans. With the boy's penchant for fucking up the most fullproof of Orochimaru's schemes, he was a monkey wrench that could not be allowed to fall into the snake-sannin's well-oiled machinations.

"Lord Orochimaru..."

The snake's head snapped up in surprise. He had been so lost in his thoughts, he had been left totally vulnerable to attack.

Snakes erupted from the Sannin's sleeve and pulled the interrupting Jounin within inches of his face.

"What," the Sannin spat, "do you want?"

To the Jounin's credit, he didn't flinch at all. He kept as level a face as he could and delivered his report. Hopefully, he could leave this room with his life intact. Hopefully.

"Kabuto, Dotou, and Kazuma were found on the roof of one the buildings downtown. They're dead. Dotou's throat was slit, Kazuma's face was impaled by a blade, and Kabuto...," he trailed off as he felt the grip on his body grow stronger. The snakes were squeezing him like pythons.

"And?" Orochimaru asked, his voice laden with murderous contempt.

"A-a-and Kabuto was impaled by someone's fist. His heart exploded in his chest. It looked like he had been electrocuted."

The snakes quickly coiled around the Jounin's head, and with a sickening twist, snapped his neck.

Orochimaru looked up at the ceiling, arms raised, and screamed in fury.

Line!

A few hours earlier...

Hinata and Sakura both looked up from the couch as the door ringer buzzed.

"It's probably Naruto and Sasuke," Sakura said as she got up and moved to the door. Hinata followed her to say goodbye to the two before she went back to her own hotel and met up with her team. As the door opened, Sakura and Hinata's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

Dirty, bedraggled, and bleeding from numerous cuts and one shrinking hole in his chest, Naruto limped into the room, carried by an equally beat up Sasuke.

"Oh my god!" Sakura yelled. "Kakashi-sensei! Get in here, quick!"

Hinata rushed over to take Naruto from Sasuke as the Uchiha kicked the door shut with the leg that wasn't sprained from his fall off the roof. Easing Naruto over to the couch and letting him lie down, Hinata began to cry.

"Wh-wh-what happened to you, Naruto?" she asked through tears. The boy simply offered a crooked grin for a moment before he winced from pain. He hadn't been in this much agony in a long time. Sasuke wasn't faring any better, though, besides the fact that he didn't have a hole in his chest. The Uchiha delivered the best and simplest explanation he could; he was too exhausted to do anything else.

"We got into a fight," he said, rubbing his ankle as he sat down in one of the kitchen chairs. This hotel room had seen its fair share of injuries to Team 7.

Sakura, even though she was a nervous wreck now, still managed to roll her eyes.

"Like that isn't obvious," she said. Kakashi was in tow, his one good eye wide with surprise.

"Sasuke," he said, voice calm but heavy with an undertone of aggravation. "Didn't I tell you to rest? Why did you go make trouble tonight? And what happened?"

The Uchiha leaned back in his chair as Sakura brought him a cool washcloth so he could wash his cuts.

"Kabuto tried to assassinate Naruto, sensei." He ran the cloth over his face and enjoyed the comfort of the cool water. "So we killed him. But not before Naruto took a lightning bolt to the chest and I got thrown off the roof." He chuckled darkly. "I had that asshole pinned to the roof with White Fang, and he let nearly cut his arm off when he tried to get away. He knocked me down and jumped off the roof. Next thing I know, Naruto comes flying back onto the rooftop with Kabuto's neck in his hand. The guy punched Kabuto so hard, his eye came out of its socket. It was crazy."

Sasuke had amended the story a little in the interest of saving his breath. His whole body ached.

"H-ha. Yeah. It was pretty crazy."

Everyone's head whipped around to see Naruto gently push Hinata off of him as he sat up on the couch. There was a black burn mark around his Anbu armor where the lightning bolt had punctured it, but the skin under the armor was seemingly unscathed.

A surge of intense jealousy shot through Sakura as Hinata sat down beside him, still watching the boy with hawklike intensity. It was no secret Hinata had been crushing on Naruto for years now. That wasn't fair to Sakura, though. She was the one who really liked Naruto. The Hyuuga couldn't just swoop in and be all clingy to the boy. Sakura narrowed her eyes slightly and sat down on the other side of Naruto. The boy was oblivious to the little one-sided war going on around him as he unbuckled his armor and threw it to the floor.

"Sensei, Kabuto is dead," he reported, having been unaware that Sasuke had already dropped that little bomb while he was in a state of near-shock. Youki and having a hole blown in your chest could take a lot out of a man. "And so are two other jounin from Oto. We had to kill them, otherwise it would have been us they'd be picking up off the roof."

Kakashi nodded, glad to see Naruto was alright. He figured the boy would have healed up pretty fast, but as Naruto talked, the life returned to his voice; he almost sounded like he hadn't been nearly killed an hour ago.

"How did you kill Kabuto? He regenerates continuously, right?"

Naruto cracked his neck and rubbed his still sore limbs. "I held him in a half nelson and Sasuke blew his heart away with a Chidori. Shit was pretty intense.

The whole time he had been speaking, Sakura watched Hinata gaze up at him with something akin to awe in her eyes. For Sakura, things like this wasn't a huge deal. She gotten used to the hero thing with Sasuke. It was just so disconcerting seeing someone have that same admiration for Naruto... Especially because her and Naruto had shared that kiss on the balcony the night before. To think, Hinata was trying to edge in on her territory. It made Sakura furious inside. She'd play the nice girl for right now, but when it came down to the nitty gritty... She'd play for keeps.

Kakashi caught the slight twitch in Sakura's face and stored it away for a later time. "Impressive," he said to the boys. "I'm surprised you managed to kill him. Kabuto is resourceful to the point he escaped from me back in Konoha when he was found out. Don't let that go to your heads, though." He gave the two boys a once-over and walked into the kitchen. "You know, until the Chuunin Exams start in three days, you're forbidden from leaving the hotel at night. During the day is one thing, guys, but no more nighttime escapades. Besides, Sakura has a scroll given to her by the Godaime before she left Konoha, and she can't very well train in those... destructive techniques if she's staying here looking after Hinata or waiting up for you two."

At this, both girls on either side of Naruto blushed, but for two totally different reasons. The two male members of Teams 7 groaned. There went anymore information gathering.

Kakashi then turned his attention to the Hyuuga in the room. "Hinata, while it has been a pleasure having you here, I'm going to ask you to go back to your hotel and stay with your teammates. You can come back during the day tomorrow if you wish, but I need you to stay away from the room during the night, in order to prevent any distractions to Naruto and Sakura."

Sakura caught the double meaning in Kakashi's phrasing, but Naruto did not. She blushed again almost simultaneously with her indigo-haired counterpart.

Hinata managed to squeak out an agreement, then headed for the door, head hung in embarrassment. Sakura excused herself, too, and went to her room to get some rest. Tomorrow, she'd start on that scroll.

Once the two females were out of the room, Kakashi prepared to read Naruto and Sasuke the riot act.

"While you two showed guts tonight, going after Orochimaru's right hand, but you were stupid," he said, glaring at them with his one good eye. "You understand you have marked us all for assassination attempts even worse than we were when we got here. Naruto, Orochimaru hates you, and I'm sure he wants your head on a platter. You've interfered more times with his plans than any sane shinobi would try. Sasuke, you denied him his next body _and _the Sharingan. Orochimaru doesn't take rejection lightly." His hand tightened on the back of the chair in the kitchen that Sasuke wasn't sitting in. "You were fools. You've destroyed Orochimaru's only medic skilled enough to help him do a body transfer."

Naruto raised his hand.

"But isn't that a good thing, Sensei?"

Kakashi shook his head.

"No, Naruto, it is not a good thing. You've killed Kabuto. You said yourself you came across a dead oto-nin in the alley by the bar the other night. Orochimaru is backed into a corner right now; he's losing control, and if I know him like I think I do, Orochimaru acts like an animal when he's cornered. I guarantee the next time you see him, things are going to get messy, boys, and I don't think you're prepared to fight a Kage level shinobi. I'm not even Kage level. _I _learned my lesson when I confronted the man before. You should listen to what I say next time. Don't be fools."

The last part came out dangerously low. Kakashi knew their lives were in danger, hell, in mortal peril. He didn't need that kind of stress.

"We're sorry, sensei...," Sasuke apologized. "We thought we were doing the right thing, and on top of that, we were _angry." _

"Yeah," agreed Naruto, pushing his somewhat shaggy hair out of his eyes. It had started to hang over his hitai-ate. "We didn't mean to fuck up."

And, just like that, Kakashi's glare turned into the upside-down 'u' of his signature masked smile. "I know, boys. Just try not to get yourselves killed."

Naturo looked at Kakashi. "Where is the pervert?" he asked. Their Jounin sensei shrugged.

"Probably out in bars... ahem... gather intelligence."

The blonde Genin rolled his eyes. "You mean gather poon." This illicted a chuckle from Kakashi.

"Who's to say?" he asked. "What he does in his free time is his own business."

Naruto sighed at that. "I need a replacement for this armor," he said, gesturing at the ANBU armor on the floor with the hole in the chest plate. "Seen any good shops around here?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No, but you might want to try and find one. I imagine the armor took the edge off of that lightning strike."

Sasuke, who had been quiet off to the side, laughed. "No." he said, chuckling darkly. "There was a large gaping hole in his chest, smoking crater style."

Line!

Sakura woke the next morning to find two practically comatose teammates. Rolling her eyes, she got dressed quietly, then went into the kitchen. After eating a particularly healthy breakfast of steak and eggs, she made her way to one of the Kusagakure training grounds. Before she had left Konoha, Lady Tsunade had given her a scroll. Up until now, she hadn't yet looked at it. She unfurled the scroll and gaped at the contents. Inside was a techinuq outlining a way to do massive damage to opponents via pin-point chakra control. The technique involved releasing chakra at the precise moment of impact when she threw a punch or a kick. Lady Tsunade was revered as a goddess of battle, insofar as her legendary ability to level buildings with a single punch.

So, this was the secret to her strength. Sakura grinned. This would be fun.

Line!

Hinata watched quietly from behind the trees as Sakura began to train. With her Byakugan active, Hinata could see everything Sakura was trying to do. She wasn't entirely sure of what the end result might be, but it seemed like the pinkette was trying to release her chakra exactly whenever she hit the lone dummy in the field. Hinata, while being sharp, was at a loss at what Sakura was trying to accomplish.

The thought of Sakura made Hinata's cheeks turn red a bit, but not because she had a crush on the pinkette.

Hinata was timid. Beyond timid, as most would put. But she had made incredible leaps and bounds since Naruto had left in the self-confidence department. Unfortunately, at heart, Hinata still had stalker-like tendencies involving the blond boy wonder, and by way of proxy, she also had stalker-like tendencies involving her rivals for his affection. She, unfortunately, had seen that kiss Naruto and Sakura had shared on the balcony of their hotel. She had been watching the boy from a few hotels over with her Byakugan active.

And the thought of Sakura kissing Naruto made Hinata very angry.

The first thing she felt when she had seen them kiss was heartbreak; she had just lost the only boy she ever had a crush on to his teammate. The second thing was anger. Where the fuck did Sakura get off kissing Naruto when she had spent the entire time at the Academy rejecting the boy? Especially since Sakura had only ever made goo-goo eyes at the Uchiha, who in Hinata's book, was an unworthy friend of Naruto's. Naruto had gone to hell and back in order to rescue the Uchiha, who had _willingly _gone to Orochimaru for more power. Even Hiashi, her father, took the side of the blond jinchuuriki when he had found out about the mission to rescue the Uchiha from Neji.

Hinata was turning out to be quite the embodiment of warring emotions. This war of emotions is what drove her to spy on Sakura that day; it was this war of emotions that caused her to see something that would change her life forever.

Line!

Sakura punched the dummy and blew it into a thousand pieces.

The leather of her gloves was scarred beyond recognition from the past few hours of training and her shirt and vest were soaked from perspiration, but she had finally mastered the timing of the chakra expulsion. She was lucky in her natural ability to mould chakra well; otherwise, she would be shit out of luck learning the technique. If she were to spend the next few days training like this, she might be less of a hindrance to Team 7 and more of an asset.

Sakura had always been a step (or several) behind her two male teammates. Not because she was a kunoichi, but because she was not multi-talented like they were in ninjutsu and taijutsu. Sasuke's mastery of taijutsu was to the point of being jounin level, and so was Naruto's. Sasuke had the legendary Sharingan, and Naruto had... Well, whatever it was that he had that made him so excellent at everything he did. Every now and then, she'd be sickened by the thought. Now, though, she felt like she had a trump card, an ace in the hole. She was fast, she was agile, and now, she was impossibly strong for her size. If only she had paid attention in her taijutsu classes at the Academy, she wouldn't get thrown around like a rag doll. No matter how hard she could hit someone, if they were big enough and managed to get their hands on her, Sakura would be completely and utterly fucked.

Maybe she could get Sasuke to give her a few pointers one day after she finished training. Yes... That would be nice.

She wished her two teammates weren't comatose at the moment; they could all have a friendly spar to see how far each had come since Naruto had parted ways with them. Naruto had told her of their sword duel outside of Kusa. She wished she had ran with them, if only to watch them do battle. Sasuke was quite adept at using a blade from the past few year of using the chokuto; now he had the White Fang, the Hatake clan's legendary blade, so she couldn't imagine how monstrous he would be in battle. But from what he had said about Naruto's prowess with the blade, it seemed like the blond could stalemate, and even possibly beat Sasuke in a duel.

Naruto... She wanted to kiss him again. Badly.

If only that night hadn't been marred so badly by Sasuke being bitten by the firesnake, it might have gone much further than them just kissing. Sakura cursed her own raging teen hormones. When the Chuunin Exams started, she couldn't let such things affect her; there would be no room for distraction. From what it seemed, things were going to get very hairy there in Kusa, what with Orochimaru's right hand man being killed and all. And then, she remembered, there was the team from Kusagakure that seemed to be after Naruto and Sasuke after the incident at the House of Green Leaves. She was spoiling for a fight with them, to be honest, after they had tried to accost her two teammates in the teahouse. That, and their deepseated hatred of Konoha.

Then, there was _Hinata _to worry about. As if she didn't have enough on her plate to begin with, it seemed like Hinata was trying to start a war for Naruto's affections; it burned Sakura up that Hinata was hanging all over him after they had limped in half-dead. Where did she get off trying to fuck with Sakura's place in his lovelife? This thought made Sakura pause, though. Hinata had always been after Naruto, even since they first started the academy. It may have been a little more innocent back then, but Hinata had always been vying for his affections since day one. Sakura was the one who had busted in and gone after Naruto when Team 7 had been reunited. Fuck it. She was Naruto's teammate, and she had Hinata dead to rights on that. There was no way in hell that little _girl _fromthe Hyuuga clan was going to get in her way. Sakura would be damned before that happened.

Line!

Orochimaru was pulling every string he could to have a medic-nin skilled enough to do his body-transfer kidnapped and brought back to Oto for 'mental conditioning', but it was to no avail. Short of Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure and his former teammate, there was no one his extensive spy network could track down enough that was skilled enough for the transfer. He would have to focus all of his attention on creating a new technique once he got done with his nasty business in Kusagakure. Oh, he had plans alright.

First would be the assassination of the pro-Konoha Kusakage.

The man was proving to be quite a thorn in Orochimaru's side. If he could consolidate the borders of Iwa, Kumo, Oto, and Kusa, he would have a formidable alliance; one strong enough to raze Konoha to the ground and forever be rid of his accursed home village. He hated their authority on this continent; it seemed like everything had to do with Konoha in some form or fashion. _He _wanted that superiority. He wanted that power. But Konoha wasn't the only thing standing in the way. There was his former employer, Akatsuki, and their leader, Pein. Every night, he was coming up short a Jounin here, a Chuunin there, and even some of his specialists were being killed of. You'd think in a village where most of the Hidden Villages had gathered for the Chuunin Exams, someone would have seen or heard something, but that was not the case. It seemed Akatsuki was still as thorough as they were when he was still with them.\

He looked down at the ring on his finger. The tenth ring, Sky, was his last link to the organization of missing nin. And for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why they were here, and why they were harrassing him. He supposed it was because of the Uzumaki child. Besides the Uzumaki, there was one other Jinchuuriki present in Kusagakure; the young container of the Yonbi no Soukou, Akira. He scoffed at the thought of the boy. Akira, from what Kabuto had told him before his untimely death, was obsessed with his inner-pain. Orochimaru scoff turned into a sneer at this. The young boy knew nothing of pain. Not yet. Not until it was his turn to be captured by Akatsuki. Then, Orochimaru thought, the boy would know pain.

Why was it that every time Orochimaru went to commit to doing something evil, he was foiled in one way or another by several different parties at once?

Line!

_ So, I've decided to throw in a little teaser for you. It was something that popped into my head when I was considering what I should do in the fourth book. Honestly, I pull all of this shit out of my ass over the course of a couple of days, and in that regard, the Jin series is probably the most organic series of stories you'll ever read. That is precisely why it is my pet project at the moment, taking priority over the writing of my original fiction that I've been working on for the past six months. I won't bore you with that, though. Without further ado, here is a scene from possibly the last book in the series, Kajin._

Samehada clashed with Khanda, its many blades shrieking in protest as Khanda's hot edge bit into them. Kisame was surprised the teen posessed such great strength. It was not everyday he fought someone he couldn't simply crush with the sheer weight of Samehada or his own brutish strength.

Naruto pushed the Akatsuki's blade away and aimed a counterstroke at his knees. Khanda sang as it bit through the air, whistling like some great god-like bird. Kisame deftly hopped over the blade, its hot edge missing him by mere centimeters. Samehada made a great arc over his head; Kisame was intent on slicing the boy in half. Naruto had followed through, though, and caught Samehada's wicked edges on Khanda's back side.

Kisame grimaced. This was going to be an intense fight.

Naruto grinned in response.

"Feeling the heat?" he quipped. He reversed Khanda, aiming for Kisame's neck. The shark-like man had to lean back almost double to avoid Khanda's long reach. He used the leverage to backflip and put more space between himself and Naruto. As he righted himself, though, he found Naruto in his personal space much faster than he expected. Khanda was now on the boy's back, and in his hands was a much shorter blade. Kisame's eyes widened as he realize the boy's eyes had changed again.

The blue-silver blade of Byakaze flicked out supernaturally quick to lop on of Kisame's arms off. Samehada flashed up as fast as Kisame could swing the massive blade. Byakaze was thrown back, and Kisame prepared the blade for a riposte, only to find Naruto had disappeared.

The fuck was with this kid?

By chance, Kisame saw a shadow moving within his own at his feet. He thanked whatever god was out there, and looked up. Shielding his head with Samehada, he deflected a stroke from the falling Naruto that surely would have split him from head to groin. The boy landed gracefully and blinked as he switched blades again. Khanda swun forward slowly, as if Naruto had lost his vigor.

Kisame locked eyes with him and grinned maliciously, showing of his inhumanly sharp maw.

"Now," he called, spinning around to add momentum to the blow he would strike with Samehada, "you die!"

Samehada shattered into a thousand pieces as it met with an Oodama Kajin Rasengan. Kisame's arm shattered from the impact as well, leaving him gasping from the sudden pain.

Naruto performed the same motion; spinning in a tight arc, he cleaved Kisame in half diagonally, only to have the Akatsuki dissolve into a great rush of water.

In Amegakure, Kisame grinned. The boy was a powerful adversary and a skilled swordsman, indeed.

Line!

_So, what do you guys think about the chapter and the little teaser there? Hope you guys liked it. I'll admit, not much went on in the chapter, and it was a little on the short side, but I think some much-needed face time with Hinata and Sakura was thrown in there for reader-satisfaction. Like I said, I'm pulling ALL of this shit out of my ass on the fly. Like always, read and review, guys. Until next time! -Hangovergoblin_


	6. Chapter VI

Raijin

Chapter VI

_So, we've had some good character development in the past few chapters. The Chuunin Exam arc is going to be a big one, though; possibly another six chapters, and then we have to cover some other stuff before Raijin is complete. That's good, I guess, but at the same time, I wonder if it's worth it. You guys should definitely leave me some big reviews so I can be convinced otherwise. Oh, and there is a definite twist in this chapter that may or may not blow your freakin' mind. =) Thanks! -Hangovergoblin_

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><p>"Ah!"<p>

Naruto made his way through the crowd of assembled Genin to a redhead who had been standing quietly to the side. "Gaara! It's good to see you again!" he said, shaking the boy's hand. Gaara returned the gesture firmly and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Likewise," he said, smirking. Naruto knew the facial expression was good natured; Gaara had not yet learned how to smile completely. The boy was probably still recovering from the Suna/Oto invasion of Konoha a little over a year ago. Naruto was glad to see that Gaara had the will to come back to the Chuunin Exams even though at this point it was a formality; Gaara had already been nominated to take up the mantle of Kazekage within the next year. He was just doing this to put some of the village leaders at ease, but mostly, he was doing it for Baki, his jounin sensei. "Your hair has grown longer, Naruto," Gaara deadpanned. It took the panda-like genin to finally put it into perspective for Naruto. He brushed the hair from his face consciously and tucked it behind his headband.

Naruto broke eye contact for a split second. That was it. He really didn't mean for his eyes to land where they did, but they moved on their own.

His eyes came to rest on a very large pair of breasts, owned by none other than Temari no Suna, Gaara's older sister. His eyes moved steadily up until they came to rest on her face. She made eye contact and winked, leaving a very stunned Naruto. He just couldn't let Gaara figure out what had happened.

"Hi," she greeted. Her hand came to rest on her hip in a very provocative pose. Naruto couldn't help but imagine her chomping his head off with those perfect pearly whites. What a maneater. He waved back to her dumbly, as if controlled by some retarded puppeteer.

Speaking of which...

Kankurou shot him a dirty look from out of the side of his eye. It seemed like the puppeteer still had a bit of a chip on his shoulder from the last time they had met. Naruto didn't even bother to greet him; some people just couldn't be dealt with.

It was at this point that Sasuke and Sakura made their way over to their fellow examees. Sakura waved to everyone, but it was Sasuke who actually spoke up.  
>"I didn't think I'd see you guys again," he said, extending his hand to Gaara. Gaara accepted it, even though Sasuke was the first one to make him bleed his own blood over a year ago. Sasuke decided he liked the newer, improved Gaara; the boy was much more affable than last time, considering he had wanted to crush Sasuke with a Sabaku Kyu when they had last seen each other.<p>

"Yeah, well, we're here," the hooded boy beside Gaara spoke. Sasuke rolled his eyes. Kankurou was such a prick.

The sound of an airhorn blowing made them all turn in the direction of the stage.

The assembled Kages and the representatives for the Kages who could not be there were all standing on the stage. Jiraiya, of course, had taken Tsunade's place at the Chuunin Exams, and was acting as her proxy. Naruto waved at the man, but he made no response back. Naruto was actually quite impressed with the man. Dressed in robes that were copies of his old outfit, he had swapped out the garish colors for black and white. The scroll was gone from his back, and in its place sat a ceremonial katana. Now, if only he could get his sensei to dress like this all the time, he could walk around with the man and not feel embarrassed. Kakashi stood behind him, part of the bodyguard. He still wore his normal outfit, though, but looked just as regal as Jiraiya. Naruto was pleased to see the man's normally half-hooded eyes were wider than normal; they actually looked like a non-lazy person's eyes.

To his Jiraiya's left stood Baki, who represented the stewardship of the Kazekage, and to Jiraiya's right, stood...

Naruto's eyes widened as he locked eyes with the man. He felt Sasuke stiffen beside him, too. What the fuck? They had killed him only nights before!

Kabuto stood smirking, dressed in the ceremonial robes of Otogakure.

"Welcome to the annual Chuunin Exams!" the Kusakage bellowed. He was a large man with extremely tan skin and large hands. His only facial hair, a pair of long sideburns and a soul patch seemed strange to Naruto; no one wore that particular style anywhere in the elemental nations. It looked largely out of place with the other clean-shaven village representatives.

"We are proud to announce that we have a better turnout than last year's exams, and we plan to show the elemental nations that Kusa is indeed a perfect place to hold the exams!"

This was met from loud clapping on either side of the stage; they were in the main square of Kusagakure, and many buildings lined the streets. People had settled to occupying the balconies on the buildings because the streets had been cleared for a quarter mile so the Examees could all be within hearing distance of the stage.

"There are currently twenty teams enrolled, so we hope for an exciting exam. The exam, like always, will be held in three stages. The first stage is information gathering, but it will not be a quiz like last year." He laughed at this. "Oh, no, it will not be like last year. During the first part of the exam, you will be expected to retrieve bits of information from a cyphers hidden out on the great plains around Kusa. The whole area around our great city is fair game, all the way to the great rocks to the north, and the forests to the south. There are a total of twenty cyphers hidden within a fifteen mile radius from our city's walls. You have three days to find them."

Sakura leaned in amongst her two teammates. "That's one cypher for every team... If we find more than one, one team will be disqualified for each cypher we find-" She was cut off abruptly by the Kusakage's booming voice.

"The catch is," he said, "you have to decode the cypher before you arrive back at the gates; if you do not, you can't possibly hope to move on!"

This caused whispers to go out through the crowd. The implications to the danger of the first part was obvious; with twenty teams competing for twenty cyphers. There was definite danger in that. If one team found a cypher, they would have to decode it in the field, leaving them vulnerable for hours, or worse, more than a day. Either they would have to decode the cyphers on the spot, or find a place to hunker down and do it, otherwise, they'd almost immediately come under attack.

Naruto was already running through the groups he'd assume would make it through. There were the Suna siblings, of course; Gaara could make a place to decipher the codes with his sand. Lee's team, with their genin replacement for Neji's place, could possibly do it, if Lee and Tenten were smart to run interference. The unknown teammate was a variable that Naruto couldn't exactly count on. He knew his own team would crush anyone who got close enough to even think about trying to hurt Sakura while she was deciphering her codes. Team 8 could probably do it, too. Shino was a force to be reckoned with, and Kiba was no joke when he took his opponent seriously. Naruto snickered at that.

The other teams, he could care less about. If they weren't from Konoha, they'd be crushed easily. He had supreme faith in everyone who graduatated with him from the academy.

But there was still the problem of Kabuto. Was destroying his heart not enough? What would it take to finally kill the Oto Jounin? Naruto and Sasuke had watched the man die; they had watched the blood pour out of his gaping chest wound and seen the life fade from his eyes!

"... you have one day to prepare! The gates will open at six in the morning tomorrow. Do not be late; if you are, you WILL be disqualified."

The Kazekage poofed into a burst of smoke, along with the other Kages and representatives. Naruto and Sasuke rolled their eyes in exasperation. Why did they both feel like that little dramatic touch had been Jiraiya's idea?

Sakura was the first to speak as they disassembled.

"So, what do you think about this first test, and how do you think it relates to the second one?"

Honestly, Naruto had no earthly idea. Sasuke was the one who had already put all the thought into it.

"If the codes from the first exam have something to do with the second part, I think we can safely assume the second part of the exam will be based on information we find in the cyphers. That much is obvious," he said. He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "There's a strong possibility the codes will help us in the second part of the exam. Maybe the second exam will be objective-based. Maybe capture of a high value individual or a high value object."

Naruto and Sakura both nodded.

"So," Naruto said, "I guess that just leaves us with the problem of finding the cypher in the first place. I wonder which gate we'll be let out of. That should dictate our area of search in during the first day. We should have the next day to find the cypher, too. We'll use the third to decode it, if we don't find it early."

Sakura frowned.

"That's true, but do you realize exactly how long we're staying out there? Three days, guys. We have to stay awake for three days, unless we can sleep in shifts; there is the very strong possibility that we'll be attacked at any time, if not all the time. The only thing on our side is the vast amount of area, so we may have a few moments here and there. Unfortunately, that also works against us. That is an incredibly large amount of area for us to find a cypher, even if there is twenty of them. And on top of that, I'm sure they are extremely well hidden, too." She sighed. "This is going to be more stressful than I had first thought."

Her two teammates agreed.

Naruto caught a flash of purple from the corner of his eye. Excusing himself from the group, he walked over to the store front and walked in. Hinata turned from the various herbs and spices she was perusing a rack and immediately went red in the face.

"N-Naruto! I'm so glad to see you're fully recovered! I-I-I was so w-w-worried about you!"

He flashed her a cheeky grin as she stuttered. Now that he thought about it, that was kind of cute.

"Hahah. It was no big deal," he said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Stuff like that happens to me more than you'd think."

Hinata offered him a small, shy smile, then lowered her head and started poking her fingers together. She hated it when she acted like this; she just didn't know what to say to the object of her affections.

"So," he said, breaking the silence, "what do you think about the first part of the exam? Are you gonna do well?" He folded his arms and smiled. "I'd sure hate to not see you in the second part!" he proclaimed.

"Ano... I-I-I think w-w-we can pull through," she replied, her face turning even redder. "I'm c-c-c-c-confident in my teammates... And in my self."

Naruto was thoroughly impressed with Hinata. It seemed she had made huge leaps and bounds over the past year or so. After her crushing defeat at the hands of Neji, Naruto wasn't entirely sure she'd ever pull out of her shell. Luckily, he had been proven wrong. And, strangely enough, that made Hinata seem just a bit more attractive than that shy, freaky girl he had left back in Konoha. Naruto had seen the metamorphosis in nearly all of his fellow graduates when he had finally met up with all of them at one point or another in Kusa, but Hinata truly was the most changed. Emotionally, mentally, and apparently, physically, too, as Naruto gave her a quick look up and down. He hadn't realized just how curvy she had gotten when they had sparred out on the plains. He guessed it was because of the way her body moved that hid her assets. She was as graceful as Sakura and just as agile. Her hands were faster than his pinkette teammate, too.

And her eyes... If only she kept them eye level... Her gaze would be just as intense as Neji's. And that would make her incredibly intimidating on the battlefield. Maybe that day would come, eventually. And when it did, Naruto wanted to be there to see the butterfly emerge from the cocoon.

"That's good," he said, grinning. She nodded back, smiling slightly. He put her in such a tizzy, and he didn't even know. She cursed herself inwardly for her shyness. She wished she could just reach up and kiss him.

"Well, Hinata, I'm going back to the hotel! It was great seeing you again. Thank you for being so awesome the other night, too!" He pulled her to him and gave her a quick hug.

"Bye, Hinata!"

She could barely form the thought to wave.

* * *

><p>When Naruto arrived back at the hotel, he found a very bored Sasuke sitting on the couch, arms folded, doing absolutely nothing.<p>

"Hey, man, hard at work or hardly working?" Naruto quipped as he sat down beside Sasuke. He looked down at the armor that was still laying beside the couch from the other night. He had yet to find a replacement for it, which really aggravated the boy. He had been able to keep the shin guards, and the arm guards were hidden under his sleeves. He was just happy he had managed to keep the metal-backed gloves. They really came in handy when he was using Byakaze; Naruto hated having callused hands. They were unavoidable in his line of work, but the gloves helped keep them at a manageable level.

Speaking of Byakaze... Naruto felt it was high time for another duel with Sasuke. He spoke his thoughts and was happy when Sasuke consented.

They made their way out of their room and to the top of their hotel, which was perfect for a duel. It was a large, open space shaped like a 'U', and was obstacle-less. All of the vents were located on the side of the building, oddly enough, so there was much free space to fight.

This reminded Naruto so much of the time he and Sasuke had it out on the hospital roof back in Konoha. That was the first time Sasuke had tried to kill him with the Chidori. Luckily, Kakashi had appeared and redirected the attack from destroying the blonde boy.

"You ready, asshole?" Naruto said, grinning, as he unsheathed Byakaze. The blue-silver blade hummed as it was drawn. It felt great to hold it in his hands again.

"Ready when you are, prick," Sasuke fired back, his face a smile, too. Sasuke never grinned, so Naruto always had to settle for a smirk or a smile.

They both entered their stances and flew at each other.

The first stroke left Sasuke surprised; Naruto's blade flicked out with impossible quickness and came within millimeters of his neck. Sasuke hadn't bothered with the Sharingan at first, because he didn't feel like the duel would be that one-sided that fast. Naruto, however, had quickly activated the Fuujin and had been on him in a few milliseconds. Now that he had the Sharingan active, Sasuke could see Naruto clearly. He was still moving fast enough for the Sharingan to only view him in normal time, rather than slow motion. It was amazing to see him move like that.

The White Fang cut through the air, singing as it aimed for a cross stroke over Naruto's chest. He sidestepped it and returned another stroke that would have 'struck off' Sasuke's head. The boy countered with an excellently timed block and went to sweep Naruto's legs out from under him. The teen hopped deftly over the white blade and jumped back. Running his hands through some handsigns that were extremely familair to Sasuke.

"Katon: Goukakyu!"

He spat a huge fireball at Sasuke who jumped over it, aiming at Naruto's head with his own Goukakyu. Naruto cut straight through it with Byakaze, reinforcing the blade's power with wind manipulation. It sliced cleanly through the fireball, redirecting the flames to his sides. When the last of the fire dissipated around him, he found Sasuke in his face with White Fang coming down across his torso in a diagonal motion. Byakaze shot up and ground Sasuke's advance to a halt. They locked eyes, both smiling at each other. They never had as much fun as when they were dueling. They were so evenly matched, this could go on for hours or for seconds. They never knew when the duel would come to an end.

Sasuke felt the wind kick up around him.

Suddenly, there was a tremendous force behind Naruto's sword; the bastard, Sasuke realized, was using strong winds to push him harder than Sasuke could combat. Giving one last heave, Sasuke managed to break sword contact and backflip several paces backwards. Sasuke used the slight respite to fling a couple of shuriken at Naruto. The Byakaze whipped out with that same supernatural quickness and batted them away, leaving a grinning Naruto.

"Had enough yet, bastard?"

Sasuke smiled as he sheathed the White Fang.

"Not quite," he said as he went into a taijutsu stance. Naruto copied the Uchiha, sheathing Byakaze and settling into his own stance.

They charged each other, intent on fighting like they had back at the Valley of the End; no swords, no jutsu, just their god given talents. Only, Naruto had one surprise left in his bag of tricks. His irises changed into a deep golden color as their outlines became jagged, leaving a bright sunburst of yellow in place of a ring of blue(1). The Raijin wouldn't offer him any help in manipulating lightning besides the basic abilities because he had not yet trained in it. But, Naruto knew that it would increases his reflexes tenfold; his nerves were already practically tingling from the excess electrical energy his body was beginning to generate. He would need those reflexes and the added speed to combat Sasuke in Taijutsu.

Sasuke's Sharingan noted immediately the change in how Naruto moved. He was fast, even for Sasuke's enhanced eyes.

Naruto's fist shot out and nearly cuffed Sasuke on the ear, but the Uchiha managed to duck just in time. He brought his knee up to strike Naruto in the sternum, but the teen's damnably fast reflexes allowed him to slap the knee back down with the fist that hadn't just whizzed past Sasuke's ear. That fist jerked in one direction, then another, as Naruto sought to bring his elbow down on Sasuke's shoulder: a move that would break the Uchiha's collarbone should it land.

Luckily, Sasuke had seen the blow coming and deftly twisted out of the way. He threw himself on his back as Naruto leapt at him in a Superman punch and caught the boy's outstretched arm. Using his backward momentum, he rolled and threw Naruto bodily behind him. Naruto twisted and rolled as well, negating what would have been a painful landing. They both leapt up at the same time and moved back towards each other, creating an infinitely artistic dance of pain as they went. They were an even match, Sasuke realized, in Taijutsu as well.

They continued on like that for an hour, never once managing to land a solid blow on each other.

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><p>"It seems you are more resourceful than I had given you credit for, Kabuto."<p>

Aforementioned young man bowed deeply to his master. Orochimaru gazed at him deeply from his draped position on his throne. Kabuto had managed to bring himself back to life somehow; he hadn't gone into the details, but Orochimaru suspected it was because the boy's brain wasn't destroyed. If that was the case, Kabuto was more skilled in healing than Orochimaru had ever given him credit for. Admittedly, when Kabuto had pushed his way through those double doors leading into the makeshift throneroom, Orochimaru had breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't feel as if he was so backed into a corner now. Things could proceed as he had originally planned. There was still the matter of Kabuto's failed assassination of Naruto.

"You failed me, Kabuto."

The teen lowered into an even deeper bow than his first. "I apologize, Lord Orochimaru," he said contritely. "It was not our expectation to be blindsided by the Uchiha in such a way. I'm just glad he did not use the Mangekyou Sharingan on me-"

"He has the Mangekyou?" Orochimaru hissed. "Impossible! Itachi is still alive and active in Akatsuki!" He narrowed his eyes at Kabuto. "Do not lie to me, _bo_y.I do _not _like being made for a fool!"

Kabuto shook his head. "On my life, my lord," he said, bowing again, "I saw the Mangekyou in his eyes before I got away. It is unmistakable."

Orochimaru leaned back in his throne. "If that is the case," he said, steepling his long, thin fingers, "then perhaps our priorities should shift away from our current plan..."

Kabuto shook his head once again. "I do not think that is advisable, my lord. Sasuke's Curse Seal has been sealed over by Jiraiya. I doubt we could unseal it without his own guidance, and we both know that will be impossible. It is a custom seal, and one of great intricacy."

Orochimaru frowned.

"Why is it that Jiraiya, or some part of his accursed legacy on this world, plague me constantly in my endeavours?" he mused aloud. "Can't he leave well enough alone?"

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><p>"Can't you leave well enough alone?" Sasuke asked.<p>

Sasuke and Naruto both sat on the edge of the building they had been sparring one, and had seen the top of the teen's black hair before he had made it to the top of the roof. Akira appeared, the vanguard of the flunky brigade, with his two teammates in tow.

"No," Akira spat. His two teammates both hmphed at Naruto and Sasuke. "A little birdie told me you were like me," the emo said to Naruto. Naruto scoffed.

"No," he said, eyebrow raised. "I'm definitely not like you, Akira." He stood up and brushed himself off. "You," he said, pointing a finger at Akira, "are a prick. I'm not."

At this, Akira sneered. "Go fuck yourself. I meant you're a Jinchuuriki." This earned a flinch from Naruto and a curious look from Sasuke. So, Akira was a Jinchuuriki as well. Naruto wondered who would have told Akira about his condition. No one outside of Konoha knew he was the container of the Kyuubi. So how the fuck did this kid know?

"I don't know what you're talking about," Naruto bluffed. He crossed his arms. He was gonna find out how the kid knew.

Akira pulled up his shirt to reveal a much less intricate seal than Naruto's, but he could still see the seal held considerable power. From what he could tell from his limited experience with seals, it looked like it couldn't hold anything stronger than a five-tailed demon, so he surmised the demon he contained was probably a little less powerful than that. From what Jiraiya had said, the Sanbi was still loose near Kirigakure, and the Nibi was contained in Kumogakure, and Naruto knew personally the Ichibi's container, leaving...

"You're sealed with the Yonbi no Soukou, the four-tailed cockatrice, then," Naruto said, pointing to the seal. Akira nodded at this.

"I am. So you know my pain. You know how I live."

"Yes," Naruto said, a hard edge coming into his eye. "But I don't wallow in it, like you do. I don't let it make me feel like nothing. And I sure as hell don't let it affect the way I dress." He rolled his eyes as Akira's expression went sour again.

"Just because of the way a few people treat you doesn't give you a right to act like you're the most hurt person in the world. You obviously have two friends," Naruto said, gesturing to Akira's teammates, "so it's not like you're completely alone. Stop being a little bitch. Stop fucking whining."

"What the fuck is with you Konoha-nin?" Akira asked angrily. He made an aggressive step towards Naruto. Naruto remained impassive, Sasuke, however, tensed up as he made ready for battle. This was going south quickly, and he needed to kick someone's ass today. White Fang made a noisy click as he prepared it for the draw. Naruto's hand went to his blade, as well. Byakaze hummed angrily in his hand like it did the other night when he had tried to kill Kabuto. The blade was spoiling for a fight.

Naruto spoke again, but this time, it was deadly quiet and laced with much more than annoyance.

"Do you really want to get your ass handed to you again, kid? Back the fuck off."

This caused Akira to pause in his slow, aggressive advance. He really did not desire a repeat performance of the House of Green Leaves. To save face, he threw his long hair out of his eyes and made a hmph noise in the back of his throat. He turned on his heel and brushed past his still-nameless teammates who soon followed suit. They left a very frustrated Naruto and Sasuke alone on top of the roof, both cursing the emo's existence. The fuck was with that kid, anyway?

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><p><em>Hmmm… Now that that affair is over with, I can return to work. ;D I can honestly say this chapter was a pain in the ass, because I couldn't really fit anything else into it. Nothing wanted to sit right in the general order of the story, but oh well. If you guys are interested in helping me along, feel free to bounce ideas off of me. That is greatly encouraged and wanted. Like always, people, read and review. Flames welcome, as well! Hope you guys enjoyed that little twist in there. -Hangovergoblin<em>


	7. Chapter VII

Raijin

Chapter VII

_Well, I've taken to writing on my off days, so there may be small gaps in the updates, but nothing too serious. I've already got most of this chapter laid out as I'm typing this, so I don't suspect it'll take too long to write. I've decided to include a little dictionary at the end of the chapter for people who want to catch up on the terms in the series, and I figured it'd be a nice little addition to the chapter's word count. For those of you who are wondering about the multitude of girls showing interest in Naruto, I must remind you that they are only thirteen to fourteen years old in this particular book. Don't you remember what hormones were like back at that age, because I know I do. So, I have to warn you that while this is listed as NaruSaku, there is a chance that the later stories in the book may not be the case. That was one of my original gripes with most of the fiction on this website; there is a total and complete lack of relationship-reality. People don't meet their soulmates at fourteen... It just doesn't happen. Whether or not I decided to keep it NaruSaku is my preroggative alone, but the reviews of my readers might sway me one way or another. Who knows. Without further ado, though, I give you chapter VII!_

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><p>Morning came early for Team 7 in the form of a very rude awakening by Kakashi with a wooden spoon and a deep pot. Banging the two together loudly like a gong, he roused Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura from their sleep at five in the morning, so as to give them enough time to fully dress and get ready for the first phase of the Exam to start at six. Sasuke was the first to awake, his Sharingan blazing at the sudden and obnoxiously loud sound as his eyes snapped open. He grumbled a bit as his eyes returned to their onyx color and got out of bed. Sakura was next, who was used to waking up early. Her hair was a mess, so she took to combing it as she woke Naruto up; Kakashi had finished his parade through the room and had started breakfast in the next room. She smiled as Naruto's eyes slowly cracked open. He smiled back and ran a hand through his long, shaggy hair sheepishly.<p>

"Good morning, sleepy head," she said, giving him a peck on the lips. It was the first time of affectionate interaction they had since Sasuke was bitten a week or so before. Naruto couldn't lie; it was a very nice change from the constant feeling of comraderie they had to share while things were so intense.

"Morning," he responded with a grin, even as he heard Sasuke retch in the bathroom in mock disgust of their exchange. "You ready for the exam?" he asked as he kicked the sheets off of his legs and stood up. He watched as Sakura nodded and blushed as he started to strip from his pajamas, leaving him in only a set of boxers. He winked saucily, then began to pull on his outfit, one pants leg at a time. He decided to leave his bare chest exposed for the time being, a move which made Sakura blush even harder and busy herself around their room to avoid staring. He chuckled as he began to put his ankle wraps on. As he busied himself with the task of wrapping them, he glanced over at the box Jiraiya had left for him when he had stopped by the previous night. It was wide and rectangular in nature, so he suspected it held clothes; he wished to god, though, that it was not some outlandish outfit that Jiraiya himself liked to sport. As he opened the box, he was pleasantly surprised.

Inside, there was a new set of ANBU armor to replace the one that Kabuto's cohort had destroyed, and a brand new trench coat made of that same curiously smooth leather Jiraiya had managed to procure for his first one, but was crimson in color this time. It, Naruto realized with some chagrin, was the same color of Sasuke's vest. Perhaps Jiraiya thought they didn't match enough. Now, if only Sakura's vest was of a lighter color, they could all match. Naruto strapped on his belt, threw on his black tee, and stepped into his sandals. He was looking forward to the exam today; no doubt their team could crush any opposition they encountered. Naruto didn't consider that thought arrogant in the least, though, considering the incredible skill he and his teammates had acquired over the course of the past year. They were a damned sight stronger than when the Suna/Oto invasion had occured, and they aimed to show it during this go-around.

Sasuke walked into the room, tugging his vest over his bare chest and securing the metal plate he wore in the pocket over his heart. A toothbrush was sticking out of his mouth, a testament to his anal-retentiveness concerning hygiene.

"Do you think we'll encounter many teams during the exam? Sakura is right... It's a huge area to cover." He paused to let Naruto speak and to let himself finish brushing his already-spotless teeth. N

"I'm sure we'll see someone. Twenty teams looking for twenty cyphers? We're bound to have some action during the exam," Naruto replied as he rubbed what little remaining sleep was in his eyes. He got up off the bed and moved into the bathroom to go through his own daily ritual. "Besides, twenty teams _aren't _going to pass. Some of the other teams are bound to get the bright idea steal scrolls, or to search for as many as possible for the extra intel on the second exam the cyphers might have." He turned the shower on to wash his hair.

Naruto's hair was beginning to turn into a considerable problem. It had grown long and shaggy over the past two years, and was beginning to impede his vision while fighting. He had lacked the sense to do something with it up until now, but he felt he owed it to Jiraiya to keep it long out of respect for his father figure. His hair, by nature, was straight, but stood on end when it was short. Now that it had grown to a considerable length, it was wild and slightly tangled. Unfortunately, it did nothing for his looks, nor for his ability in battle. So, on the morning before the Chuunin Exam's first phase, Naruto tried to do something with it. He started by snatching Sakura's brush from her bag while she wasn't looking. After washing it thoroughly, Naruto did something he never dreamed of doing back in Konoha; he put conditioner in it.

As it dried, he brushed it quickly, unwilling to be caught by his teammates in such a feminine action. An action, he realized with amusement, Hyuuga Neji must have done countless times. The fruits of his labor created luxuriously straight hair, hanging in much the same fashion as Neji. He even used a small rubber band out of his pouch to secure it in the same very low ponytail Neji preffered. After tying his headband, he had to admit, he looked like a completely different shinobi than before. Clad in Anbu armor, black undergarments, and a crimson trenchoat, he cut a dashing figure. His hair added to the image, leaving a very suave feeling Naruto as he looked on in the mirror. With Byakaze strapped behind him, he was not only dashing, but imposing as well.

As he emerged from the bathroom as a new Naruto, Sasuke looked up and scoffed. The Uchiha held up his hand to his mouth and feigned a cough, even as Naruto shot him a glare.

"Shut up, Sasuke. It needed to be done."

Sasuke couldn't bite back his retort. "Yeah," he agreed, with a smirk on his face, "just not that way."

Sakura reappeared in the doorway. "I think it looks cute," she chimed in, her face turning red as she did so. Sasuke, once again, made that retching noise he had become so fond of. Naruto shot him another glare and left the room, intent on finding whatever breakfast Kakashi had prepared for them in the kitchen. He was met with a cycloptic eye, in its usual lazy 'u' of a smile. Naruto shook his head and sat down at the table. There was a large dish of vegetables and noodles laid out in front of him, and too his delight, steak, eggs, and bacon on a separate platter.

"Very utilitarian," Kakashi commented, pointing at Naruto's hair and smiling. "It suits you, Naruto."

The boy nodded his thanks and began eating in earnest. He was soon joined by his teammates, who marvelled at the large meal. Sakura was the first to ask why there was so much food.

"Noodles for carbohydrate loading," Kakashi replied, pointing at the large bowl. "Vegetables for the minerals and vitamins, and the steak, eggs, and bacon for protein and fat. You'll need all of it for the next three days, considering you can only take what you can carry. Since all three of you are quite the speedy demons now, I took the liberty of placing jerky in your pouches to keep you going. You might as well take what you can get this morning; the next three days will be long and arduous, and there isn't much to snack on out on the plains, considering Kusagakure keeps the area cut down to prevent enemy ninja from hiding in the grass. Short of rabbits, there will be precious little to eat."

Now, Naruto could appreciate that kind of forethought. That was the difference between their Jounin-sensei and themselves; Kakashi was a ninja of legendary renown because he prepared for everything and was deadly in what he did. They, despite their skill level, were still greenhorns when it came to actual fieldwork besides short skirmishes.

The team all dug in with relish, savoring the meal that would probably be their last one for several days.

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><p>Team 7 arrived shortly before the exam was scheduled to begin. As they made their way to their assigned gate, they were joined by Team 8. Naruto caught the dark look Sakura shot Hinata immediately, and worried what exactly the look was for. He resigned it to female quarreling, and shook it off. Kiba, loud and obnoxious as usual, was the first to say something as they met in the street. Naruto had never had any ill-will towards the Inuzuka, but he just couldn't get past the fact that the dog-boy was so loud and obnoxious. Naruto supposed, however, that was the pot calling the kettle black; at one point, he had been exactly the same way. While much more subdued now, He knew there was still a brash side to himself; he still got himself into trouble with his mouth occasionally.<p>

"Hey, Naruto! You ready for me to kick your ass this time?"

Sasuke and Naruto both sighed. That was a doubtful occurence; the two had taken on multiple jounin in the past few days, and had lived to tell the tale. Naruto had two doujutsu, each with their own agumenting powers to his natural abilities, and Sasuke had the Sharingan. Besides some of the stronger Jounin present in the village and the Kages, there were few who could take an onslaught from both of the boys combined. That was not to say they were incredibly strong, though. Naruto knew for a fact that if they crossed Orochimaru again, they would have a difficult time surviving. They would most likely not have blind luck on their side this time. They both knew Orochimaru would be prepared.

"That's not gonna happen, dog-breath," Naruto replied, forcing a grin in an effort to avoid looking like a douche.

Kiba appeared at his side and put Naruto in a headlock as the walked. He knuckled the boy's ribs roughly as he spoke, chuckling as well. "I've gotten stronger, Naruto! I'm not gonna lose to you again like last time! You can't trick me!" He was pushed away by a thoroughly aggravated Naruto, who kept that forced smile.

"Right."

Sasuke snickered at Naruto's reaction. Kiba shrugged it off, however, and moved over to throw his arm around Shino, who had stayed completely quiet during the whole exchange. Hinata took the open space between Naruto and Kiba for herself, earning another dark glare from Sakura. Hinata, in a very un-Hinata like way, narrowed her eyes at the pinkette. Hinata was not the same person she was a week ago. Hinata moved as close to the boy as she could without touching him, and proceeded to have a conversation with him. Sakura, sensing her futility in breaking the two's conversation without causing a scene, moved over to talk to Sasuke. As if sensing exactly what she was going to say, he beat her to the punch.

"Don't come complaining to me about Hinata," he said in low tones. He jerked his head over to the Hyuuga and Naruto. "You can't be so blatant about things," he chided. "It's childish and obvious, Sakura." He put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You're not his girlfriend yet, Sakura... Just give it time," he said, smiling. She returned the smile. Sakura checked her pouch one more time to make sure everything was there, and pulled on her combat gloves.

"Either way, we're a team, and that's what matters."

The six genin finally made it to the North Gate of Kusagakure, they came upon the other three teams. It seemed they were the last ones to join the party, and oh, what a party it was. At the front of the group, a trio of Iwa genin turned and locked eyes with the two teams from Konoha with a malicious glint present. They were a burly bunch, all dressed in earthen tones and seemingly spoiling for a fight. The leader was tall and broad, and had an eye patch over his left eye. Despite his young age of sixteen or so, he had sideburns that reached all the way down to his jawline, emphasizing his masculinity. The other two were shorter, but no less broad, and one carried a massive warhammer; it appeared to be incredibly heavy to the eye, but he hefted it over his shoulder like it weighed as much as a tooth pick. The other one didn't have a weapon, but he did have a pair of combat gloves similar to Sakura's. The team nearest the six rookies was a team of Kumo-nin, whose eyes bypassed all of Team 7 and Team 8 to settle directly on Hinata. Hinata met their gaze with one of disdain concealed by a quick look to her right. Kumo and the Hyuuga clan had bad blood, seeing as how Hinata was almost kidnapped by a Kumo jounin many years before. Her uncle had died for the political madness that followed suit, and it was one of the reasons Neji had hated her so.

The third team present was a group of Kusagakure locals. Much to a mixture of Naruto's relief and disappointment, it was not Akira's team. He didn't want to see them early on in the exam, but he did want a rematch to show them exactly who was boss. He wasn't sure why exactly he wanted to crush the boy and his team, but the urge was there, and it was fairly intense. He chalked it up to the bad impression Akira made in the House of Green Leaves on him and Sasuke, and left it at that. The Kusagakure locals were a lithe, mean bunch, no doubt the ruthless killers the rumors made Kusa-nin to be. There was something inherently bloodthirsty about the shinobi here, with a touch of deviousness added in. Naruto never agreed with using poison on an enemy, but these shinobi were renowned with their skill in all toxins.

Kiba made his presence known next to Naruto again, but this time, it was in a more serious manner.

"Stiff competition," he commented. Akamaru, who had been padding silently by his side, yiffed in agreement. The dog had grown larger over the past year, but was still nowhere near his adult size. The Inuzuka bared his fangs at one of the Kumo-nin who had blown him a derogatory kiss. He flipped the stock lightning-nin a bird, then turned back to Naruto. "Nothing we can't handle, though. We Konoha-nin are the best around here."

Naruto couldn't help but agree. He bro-fisted Kiba and grinned. "Goddamned right, Kiba." Akamaru made a short bark in agreement, too, not wanting to be left out.

The Exam Proctor, a surly looking Kusa Jounin, made his way to the front of the gate and turned to face the assembled team. "Each team will be given five minutes to make their way out of the gate and onto the plains," he said, pointing with a thumb behind him. "You'll go in the order you arrived, so the team closest to the gate will head out first, and the team furthest will go last. You have three days to find a cypher, decode it, and return to the gate with the decoded message. Failure to report in by six in the morning three days from now will result in immediate disqualification. Should you encounter any life-threatening injuries to any of your teammates or yourself, you are required to call for asisstance. Any call for said asisstance will disqualify you from the exam. Should you enter the village in any way without a decoded cypher, you will be disqualified. If at any point you should meet shinobi of any kind that aren't participating in the exams, you are to immediately call for the ANBU in the form of a green smoke bombs. These bombs should have been given to you by your jounin sensei before you arrived here today." The man drawled all of this over the course of a minute or so, as if he were reading from an incredibly boring script.

A horn sounded moments later, giving the cue for the start of the exam. The Jounin opened the gate and beckoned the Iwa-nin through. They took off immediately, intent on trying to find a scroll as quickly as possible. This continued every five minutes, with Team 7 opting to go last. They were speed freaks, so they figured they would give Team 8 a head start. The Aburame, Hyuuga, and Inuzuka all nodded their thanks and took off through the gate to go find their cypher. Finally, after five more minutes had passed, it was Team 7's turn. The gates opened for the final time for three days and Team 7 shot through.

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><p>Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke tore off through the long, verdant plains, intent on finding a scroll as soon as possible. Naruto was pleased to see that Sakura kept their breakneck pace easily; she really had grown so much over the past year. He admired the way her legs coiled and uncoiled perfectly, like beautiful alabaster pillars given motion by some benevolent god. He closed his eyes while he ran, slightly perverted thoughts running through his head. Sasuke, on the other hand, was not distracted by his teammate's beauty. His Sharingan were searching everything on the fields, trying to find some sign of disturbance in the soil or some latent chakra signatures gathered in one particular place. He hadn't seen anything so far, but he could already hear sounds of battle coming from other places on the plains. Whoever was fighting who, some major attacks were being used; he could see massive expenditures of chakra in small groups on the horizons, and the orange flash of fire jutsu being used in the half-light of the early morning.<p>

Maybe things would be more intense than they even thought.

They continued their breakneck pace to the edge of the territory, then began to circle towards the east gate. Team 7 had orginally planned to fan out a little bit, but with the signs of jutsu being used everywhere, they realized that was not the option. It would be difficult to help one another should they be cornered by another team if they were spread too far out, and doubly so if two teams decided to blindside them at the same time. Within an hour of leaving the gates, they came across a battlefield that had apparently been fought between an earth jutsu user and a lightning user. It was most likely the Iwa team and Kumo team they had seen back at the gate. Whoever it was, they were definitely not using genin-level jutsu. There was even a _Doton Doryuuheki _wall extending about ten feet above the plain.

No one talked during those first few hours; the mood was much too intense, given the fact that they knew there were strong genin out there. They searched frantically for anything that even resembled a hiding place, and two hours later, they found what they were looking for. A small rock, hidden amongst the short grass, was lying on the ground, and to Sasuke's intense red gaze, appeared to have been moved over the past few days. He held up a hand to slow the others to a stop. His eyes quickly scanned the rock to make sure no traps had been laid. Unfortunately, in this world of kunai and flying fireballs, there was always a chance someone had come before them and set up a death-trap. He slowly reached out his hand to uncover the rock. Had it not been for his Sharingan, he probably wouldn't have seen the small land mine lying beside the cypher until it was too late.

"Alright," he said, pointing to the rock. "That thing is booby-trapped with a land mine. Any ideas? There's a string running from the bottom of the rock to the trigger on the mine. If we pull the rock too far, it'll trigger the explosion." He crossed his arms in pose of disappointment. Sakura cocked her head as the wheels turned, but it was Naruto who had the first idea. He turned to Sasuke.

"Do you have ninja wire?" he asked, knowing full well Sasuke always had a spool. The Uchiha nodded and handed it over.

Naruto, using a small smudge of adhesive past he kept in his pouch, attached the end of the wire onto back of the rock. His eyes morphed momentarily as the Fuujin windmill appeared, the four triangles crawling out from his pupil to the edge of his iris. "You guys need to back up," he said, readying himself for a jump. "I don't want you guys to get caught in the blast."

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked, confused as to what his plan entailed. The boy grinned at her and gave her a thumbs up.

"I'm gonna jump straight up and jerk the rock enough to blow the mine. I'll still be in the air when it happens, so it's gonna be alright for me. I just don't want you guys getting shrapnel."

Sakura's face made an 'o' as she took a few steps back.

The two remaining of Team 7 put their hands around their face to keep the large gust of wind that had now began to from flinging their hair into their viision, and waited for Naruto to enact his plan. With one last tremendous push of air, he jumped, sending him skyrocketing into the sky, the line and rock in tow. The mine exploded into a great plume of smoke and fire, which was quickly swept away from the plains by the already strong winds there. It dissipated to reveal a perfectly intact cypher, which Sasuke and Sakura moved over to pick up.

" oooooooouuuuuuuuuutttttt!"

The two looked up to see Naruto descending back to earth face down at a fairly rapid pace. He was waving his arms frantically as if trying to right himself. Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle as he sidestepped the area that Naruto was going to land. The boy came crashing down, stopping just millimeters before he hit the earth with considerable force. He was so close, his nose touched the short blades of grass. Naruto thank the gods he was a Fuujin, otherwise, it probably would have killed him to land like that. He began to pick himself up, slowly regaining his bearings as he heard the sound of running feet. He looked up just in time to see a foot swing up and kick him right in the jaw.

The kick sent him backwards ten or so feet; whoever had kicked him was fairly strong, but it would take more than that to put him down. He regained his composure to find Sasuke on his left and Sakura on his right, each having backflipped back to his position. Eyeing the team that had attacked them, he rubbed the bruise on his jaw as the warm chakra of the Kyuubi began to slowly knit the busted cappilaries and vessels back together.

"Back for a rematch, huh?" he asked, eyeing them intensely. Sasuke's eyes had narrowed into a glare, and Sakura was pulling her gloves on tighter.

Tsuchi Kin, Zaku, and an unnamed Oto genin glared right back.

"It's been a while," Zaku said, his arms held in front of him. Curious, considering Shino had blown his arms clean off in the previous exams. Naruto didn't think anyone could recover from losing limbs like that. With a start, he realized Kabuto must have had a hand in the boy's healing. Zaku had grown a couple of inches, but had still kept the ridiculous cow-splotch camo that oto-nin were so fond of. His hands, Naruto noted, now had three holes instead of two.

Zaku's brow furrowed as he built chakra in his hands, giving Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke all the warning they needed. Each of them broke for a different direction as the _Zankuuhaa _came flying at them. The massive burst of sound and air ripped the grass and ground up as it shot towards Team 7. Luckily, everyone made it out in time and quickly snapped into action. Sakura chose Kin as a target and decided to show her teammates exactly what she could do.

As she ran to the other girl, her vision suddenly grayed around the edges. She slowed down, confusion crossing her features as she watched the other girl's outline begin to fade in and out. Her head swam momentarily as she turned to look at Sasuke, who was engaged with the other member of the oto-team. Her head turned the other way to see Naruto fighting Zaku. They too began to grey as her world began to collapse inward; the field of her vision began to creep back towards her, until there was only the grass at her feet.

Her hands sluggishly made their way up into a ram seal as she realized what was happening.

She yelled, "Kai," and her world snapped back into complete clarity again. Sakura watched as Kin realized she had broken the girl's genjutsu, her eyes widening in nervousness as Sakura quickly began to advance on her position. Kin leapt up and backwards to avoid the girl, but it was to no avail; Sakura was much faster and much more agile. She followed Kin into the air and quickly closed on her with her forward momentum. The girl only had a moment of consciousness too realize she was completely and utterly fucked; Sakura's right fist slammed into her jaw, completely dislocating the bone, and changing her momentum so she shot to the left in mid-air. She skipped once, then twice on the ground, then finally came to rest about fifty feet from where she was going to land originally.

Sakura grinned as she hit the ground. It was just way too easy.

Sasuke was having a bit of a harder time with the unnamed oto-nin. He was brutally strong to the point that he could push back the White Fang with his kunai easily. The fact that the kunai withstood the awesome cutting edge of the White Fang was one thing, but to have the blade pushed back by something so short was ridiculous. The dark-eyed opponent smirked as Sasuke went to flank him; he had something in store for the Konoha-nin. The White Fan flicked out to take off the boy's head with supernatural quickness, but completely missed.

Sasuke's Sharingan hadn't even seen him move. How was that even possible? One moment he was there, then the next, he wasn't. Sasuke's brow furrowed in frustration. There wasn't many techniques or people that could simply vanish from his doujutsu.

"Sasuke! Watch out!"

Sasuke heard Sakura's yell just in time to spin around and take a step back, narrowly avoiding his opponent's outstretched hand. Being caught by the throat wouldn't do. Sasuke had no desire to meet his end on the plains outside of Kusa. He still had jutsu to learn and certain people to kill. And this boy's leader was one of them. Once more, White Fang flicked out, but this time, it was fast enough to knick his opponent across the chest. The thin red line began to slowly weep blood immediately. Pity, Sasuke thought, that it was just a flesh wound.

Sakura joined the fray in an effort to aid Sasuke with her own prodigious speed and strength. Approaching from the Oto-nin's back, she sought to clobber him across the back of his head with one of her incredibly powerful strikes. Almost as if he saw her coming, his right hand came up behind his head and caught her swipe in an iron grip. His left hand flew up to catch the kick Sasuke had thrown at his head, leaving both shinobi stunned. Who had the speed to catch both of them at once? The oto-nin grinned and yanked Sakura over his head and yanked Sasuke forward, sending them tumbling together. As they tumbled to the ground, he brought his foot up over his head, and sent a catastrophic axe kick to Sasuke's chest, pushing both of the stacked genin into the ground, cratering the earth around them. Simultaneously, both Sakura and Sasuke coughed up blood. He grinned once more, and prepared to strike again.

His foot made it over his head, but a terrible force seized his ankle just as he began to bring it back down.

Naruto pulled as hard as he could, over-extending the enemy shinobi's leg until he heard tendons snap. The young man groaned in pain as his groin area was devastated, and went down, hard. Naruto unsheathed an angrily buzzing Byakaze and brouight it down in an overhead stab, only to hit earth.

His eyes converted swiftly to yellow as the sunburst erupted in it. He'd need the Raijin's reflex and speed enhancing properties to combat this new foe of his. His head snapped around from left to right as Sasuke and Sakura picked themselves up off the ground and went back into battle stances.

"_Zankuuha!"_

Zaku's attack was well placed and extremely lucky; he managed to blow all three of Team 7 back, ripping their clothes and skin as the supersonic waves of air and sound rushed past them. "Hope you haven't forgotten about me!" he cajoled nastily. He grinned menacingly as the previously-vanished unnamed Oto-nin appeared beside him.

Getting their asses kicked was a relatively new experience to Team 7. When they had been fresh out of the academy, they had had their fair share of asskickings from people like Zabuza and Haku; over the past year, though, they had grown comfortable in their ability to crush any and all genin-level opposition. It seemed, however, that they had met their match. It was a small blessing, though, that Sakura had taken care of the opposite team's genjutsu user early. The girl wouldn't be able to cast any illusions unless she got past the pain of her practically destroyed jaw.

Naruto eyed his opponents warily. It wasn't that Zaku was particularly fast, or that the other nin was particularly strong, it was the fact that their attacks were so strong and sudden. The Raijin would help him avoid strikes in close and long range engagements with them, but being a Jin didn't make him all powerful. He had called on the Kyuubi's power when he had fought Kabuto a few nights earlier, and Sasuke had also been enraged, giving them the adrenaline and raw brute strength they needed. Hopefully, defeating these two wouldn't entail being almost killed in the process, and that's what made them difficult. Especially with Sakura around. Naruto didn't view her as a weak point on the team; she just couldn't anticipate their opponents moves like he and Sasuke could.

The thought of Sakura made him pause for just a moment. What if she was hurt, or worse... killed? He couldn't let that happen. He didn't know exactly what was going on between them, but he'd be damned if he didn't get to explore those feelings. And that required her alive and breathing. He made up his mind and moved into his subconcious during their brief reprieve from the combat.

* * *

><p>The sound of dripping water was a comforting sound to his ears as he made his way through the tunnel to Kyuubi's enclosure. It reminded him of what he was, and what he could do. Despite what the fox would tell him, he knew the Kyuubi was an unfaltering ally, at least until something happened to Naruto and the great demon fox became unsealed once more. The fox, Kaze, and the strange weasel were all a part of him; parts that could think and act on their own. And that is exactly what made them valuable to Naruto. His allies could always be trusted to give him advice from a different perspective, and that's exactly what he needed at the moment. He hoped they had some insight on defeating the foes that lie just outside of his mindscape.<p>

He stepped through the red door and into the area adjacent to the great barred prison of the King of Demons.

**"I think... you may be getting your ass kicked out there, boy," **the demon fox said, chuckling, as the boy entered his enclosure. He stooped down low to bring his eyes to Naruto's level. **"So what brings you here to my humble abode? Come to ask advice from the great sealed Kyuubi no Yokou?" **

Naruto grinned. He could always trust the fox to be a dick, even in the most perilous of situations.

"You know why I'm here," he returned, moving closer to the cage. "What do I do, fox? I have to protect-"

**"The pink-haired meatsack?" **the Kyuubi finished for him, laughing. He earned a playful glare from the boy in front of him. His laugh rumbled the area with its vibrations.

"Actually, I was going to say my teammates, but yes, I guess."

**"You forgot," **the fox said, still laughing, **"I can read your mind."**

"Then tell me what I should do," Naruto returned. He ran a hand through his smooth hair, mussing it up just a bit. "I'm at a total loss. If we don't finish these guys quick, I'm afraid something bad's gonna happen."

**"Such is the life of the Shinobi and of the Demon," **the Kyuubi pointed out. **"To kill or be killed. It's a dangerous world out there. Luckily for you, you've got the oldest and strongest of all demons to bail you out whenever you have your ass handed to you." **The demon fox grinned, baring every single tooth in its cavernous maw. **"I'm a little peeved that you haven't visited me lately, though. What's wrong? Not in the mood to talk to the old fox and his friends?"**

Naruto shook his head. "It's not that," he said, toeing the water under his feet in embarrassment. It would seem he had accidentally forgotten about his little friends hanging around in his head. "I've just been a little caught up in all the strange things going on. Orochimaru has showed up again, we killed Kabuto, and now he's back, and now I'm fighting for my life in the middle of what's practically a warzone. I've just been a little busy, that's all."

**"Pathetic excuses," **the Kyuubi retorted with a little mirth. **"And only in the hour of need do you come back to see me. How do you think that makes me feel? No matter... You must focus on the task at hand." **He noted Naruto's sheepish expression and continued, still keeping his ridiculous grin spread across his face. The cheshire smile did nothing to make the Kyuubi less frightening.

**"You're given gifts, Naruto. Gifts that no other mortal possesses, and you cannot figure out a way to remove two of Orochimaru's chess pieces from the board? Come on. You've made great leaps and bounds over the past year, boy. Use your head like you **_**have **_**been doing. What can you do to cancel out the boy's sound attacks, and what can you do to remove the other shinobi from play?"**

Naruto adopted a thoughtful pose. There was something to the Kyuubi's words. Cancelling Zaku's sound...

"Goddamnit, you fox," Naruto cried as his face split into a grin. "It's easier when you just tell me what to do, but you give damned good hints!"

His eyes exploded into sunbursts as he turned on his heel and shot down the hallway, and back into consciousness.

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><p>Naruto's eyes snapped open in the real world to see Zaku and the other shinobi move toward him and his teammates in slow motion. They sped up as his eyes reversed color into their normal blue as four black triangles shot from his pupil into his iris. His feet left the ground in an instant as he began to levitate slightly, too. He had formulated a plan, something akin to what Shino had done to Zaku back in their first Chuunin Exam. He turned back to Sakura and Sasuke and told them to attack the other enemy, while he dealt with Zaku himself. They nodded and prepared to do battle.<p>

Naruto watched as Zaku disturbed the air as he moved; he was waiting for the perfect time to strike. Seeing the opportunity present itself, he shot towards Zaku as the oto-nin's hands shot up to deliver another damaging sound attack. The boy's eyes widened as Naruto suddenly appeared before him, his sunkissed hands meeting the oto-nin's hands and clasping them with great strength. Zaku's surprised expression turned to an evil leer as the _Zankuuha _built up in his arms. He was going to blow the blonde shinobi's arms clean off with the attack.

In slow motion, Naruto watched the shockwave of pressurized air and sound travel through Zaku's arms with the Fuujin, and waited as those precious milliseconds passed. As if the world slowed to a crawl all around them, he saw the evil expression on Zaku's face morph from one of triumph to one of surprise, then to discomfort, then to complete and total agony as Naruto reversed the air pressure in Zaku's airtubes. The pressure cancelled at first, then built back up into a full force _reverse Zankuuha. _It changed directions and went back through the tubes from whence it came. Unfortunately, Zaku's airtubes were not meant to accomodate reverse pressure, and the nodes that created his powerful attacks were overloaded in an instant; this caused the nodes to charge another full _Zankuuha, _which doubled up with the original attack and blew right into Zaku's chest cavity from his arm sockets.

The resulting explosion would have made Gaara envious as a shower of blood and gore rained down over Naruto, staining his clothes a deep red from his eviscerated opponent's bodily components. Naruto was not sad he had taken the evil boy's life; there was no quarter to be given to Orochimaru and his follower's ilk. This was one less shinobi the Snake Sannin had at his disposal. A drop in an ocean, but a drop could be the difference between a wake and a tsunami. Feeling the usual post-kill surge of adrenalin, he turned towards the ongoing battle between Sasuke, Sakura, and the nameless Oto-nin. They had ratcheted up the ante on the oto-nin, and was now giving him a run for his money. So the maxim was true, then. United we stand, divided we fall. With Naruto added to the mix, this would be a short battle. No single genin could withstand a full on battle with Konoha's best assault team.

Naruto shot forward, feet touching the ground only slightly as he took off. The nin had his back turned to the Jinchuuriki; a dangerous gamble indeed for his opponent. Naruto grinned mirthlessly as he prepared an attack he hadn't used in many, many months. A swirling ball of white-blue energy built up in his hand, swirling with the force of a hurricane. As he reached the Oto-nin, Sakura and Sasuke suddenly caught onto the blonde's ploy and quickly seized the Oto-nin's arms. They held him fast as Naruto closed the last couple of feet and gave a great yell of, "_Rasengan!" _and plunged the ball into the older teen's back.

The Oto-nin gasped as the ball of chakra began to drill into his back, flaying layers of cloth, skin, muscle, then finally bone. The ball ate through his spine and dissipated as the boy went slack, his eyes suddenly glazing over, dead and lifeless. Naruto stepped back from the body as it slumped to the ground, no longer held by Sasuke and Sakura's grip. They all breathed a simultaneous sight of relief as they realized the fight for their lives was over.

Sasuke shook his head as he bent over double, trying to catch his breath. "That was way too close for comfort, guys," he said as he stood straight again. He resheathed White Fang and cracked the tension out of his neck.

Naruto couldn't help but agree. They had used too much chakra boosting their speed and their strength in that match, leaving them with a mild case of exhaustion. Naruto wasn't feeling the effects quite as much as his counterparts, but he was feeling a little taxed. Using chakra to enchance one's muscles tended to train one's reserves more than using jutsu, especially over extended periods of time. As the muscles work harder, they receive less oxygen, and chakra had the curious effect of exascerbating that problem; the muscles would begin to build up lactic acid as anaerobic cellular respiration ramped up. This would cause the chakra to push the muscles harder, which in turn would increase the amounts of lactic acid. Shinobi science at its best. Naruto realized that he had not had a case of sore muscles in years; even his fight with Gaara hadn't caused this much wear on his body. He had been aided by the Youki of the Kyuubi back then, which lessened the effects of the chakra usage. It was curious how Youki and Chakra were so different, yet rendered much the same results in jutsu usage. That's why humans couldn't dabble in Youki unless they were Jinchuuriki or in special cases, Hanyous, which were even less common than the former case. The Youki had strange effects on a normal human body, often repairing it and damaging it in different ways at the same time.

"For a second there," Sakura admitted, "I didn't think we'd make it."

Naruto shook his head and grinned. "Are you kidding me?" he asked. "We're team 7. Short of a Jounin, there's nothing we can't handle as a team!"

He bent down and began to rifle through the dead shinobi's pockets. "Search the bodies, guys. They may have a cypher on them."

The next five minutes were spent going through all of the dead ninjas' possessions, but alas, no luck. They seemed to have attacked without good reason. Luckily, Team 7 had come out alive and with their own cypher in hand. Any more they found would be to limit the other teams present in the second part of the exam. Naruto sighed at this. If the first part of the exam was this brutal, he couldn't even begin to imagine what the second and third portions would be like. Unfortunately, there was still the task at hand of decoding the cypher and surviving any other attacks out here. They needed shelter, and they needed it fast. If they could find something to brace themselves against, they could keep their backs protected, narrowing down the sides they could be attacked from to three.

An idea clicked in Sasuke's head as he pondered the same thing.

"Guys," he said, pointing back towards Kusa. "Do you want to put our backs to the wall of Kusagakure? We could guard Sakura while she decodes our cypher easier if we could put our backs against the wall."

A grin split Naruto's face as he realized what a capital idea that was. He looked to Sakura for her assent and smiled even wider when she nodded back to him. She checked once more to make sure the cypher was still in her pouch, then Team 7 began a breakneck pace back to the walls.

* * *

><p><em>Well, that's if for chapter VII. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, I have to say. The fight scenes were fun to write, if a little tedious. Don't think that the trial by fire that is the first exam is over, though. Noooo. Not by a long shot. If you'll remember, Team 7 has only been out on the plains for a few hours at this point. They have three days to retrieve and decode the cypher, then make it back to a gate safely. Prepare for some more intense fighting; this ain't over until the fat lady sings. If you'll scroll down just a bit further, you'll also find a goodie I added to the end of Chapter VII. It's something for those of you who didn't read the first book, or for those of you who need clarification on what somethings are, what they look like, or what role they play in the story. I feel like the background is growing a little convoluted, so hopefully, this'll clear some issues up with some of the things I've written.<em>

A Brief Intermission

and the Jin Dictionary

_I feel like it's time for a little intermission to the non-stop action that's been going on in the story! Since I've decided to throw in some clarification on terms and whatnot, I came up with this nifty little explanation to anything and everything Jin! Read it and revel in it's epic awesomeness! *Kidding...*_

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><p><em>Jin<em>- Ancient subrace of humans who could manipulate the elements, depending on which particular doujutsu they inherited. The first few generations of their race had near god-like ability, and studied arduously in their abilities to further enchance them and their connection with nature. Some of the most priceless artifacts of the world were created by the Jin and their ability to manipulate the elements, including the blue-silver blade, Byakaze. They, along with the Bijuu, sealed the Yajuu into inanimate objects and hid them away from prying, mortal eyes.

_The Old Ones_- The original creators of the world, they left the Jin and their true human counterparts to their own devices, and reveled in the admiration of the Yajuu. The creators of the Yajuu and the Bijuu, they were overthrown by the tailed beasts for their complaceny in the universe. The Bijuu ripped each and every one of them to shreds, sealed their favorite pets, the Yajuu, with the help of the Jin. The Old Ones have long since passed into the mythos of time, and have passed far from the memory of humans. Only the Bijuu have any knowledge of them.

_The Sanctums of the Elements_- Sanctuaries built by the Jin in an effort to grow closer to the respective elements. They possess the ability to alter a person's concsciousness without that person knowing, which then opens up the person to the elements themselves, and allows the Jin to train in their abilities at an accelerated rate. This altered state also allows the Jin's inner manifestation of their element to create a form in the outside realm, ie, Kaze appearing to Naruto in the Wind Sanctum.

_Bijuu_- The Tailed Demon Beasts, numbering 9 in total, were the creations of the Old Ones to protect the interests of the Gods on this world. Unfortunately, even the best laid plans go awry. As the Old Ones retreated back to their places of safety to watch and be praised by their other children, the Yajuu, the Bijuu began to wreak havoc within the world, and finally grew tired of the Gods' complaceny. Jealous of the praise heaped on the Yajuu, the Bijuu sided with the Jin, and sealed away the Yajuu. After the Yajuu were sealed, nothing could protect the Old Ones from the wrath of their demonic children, and they were subsequently betrayed and destroyed by their creations. This was proof positive that Gods could indeed die, and could do so in extremely brutal and gruesome ways.

_The Yajuu- _Beasts of beauty, grace, and strength, they are not judged in power by their number of tails. Instead, they are judged in the order of creation. None of the Yajuu have been named yet, so it is still unclear what kind of a role they will play in the Jin saga, but their role will be a great one in the coming books. They were sealed away by the Bijuu and the Jin, and have been lost to eternity ever since. They were the living embodiment of the Old One's skills in creation, and they loved the Old Ones dearly for having been given life. They worshipped the Old Ones and served them as butlers would serve their masters, at every beck and call of the Old Gods.

_Byakaze- _A blue-silver blade forged by the first Master of the Wind Sanctum, it was a beautiful piece of art. Incredibly sharp, incredibly strong, and incredibly nimble to wield, the Katana was sealed away in an ancient map-room underneath the primary Wind Sanctum. It rested there, dormant for thousands of years, until the Fuujin resurfaced in Naruto, who claimed the blade as his own. He now wields it with prodigious skill, gifted to him by his training with Kaze at the Sanctum.

_White Fang_- A gift from Hatake Kakashi to Uchiha Sasuke, the White Fang is a katana of exquisite design and beauty. It is an heirloom of the Hatake clan, passed from the last of their clan to the last of the Uchiha as a gift. Some gifts mean more than others, and this was the gift that cemented Sasuke's place in Team 7 and as the protege of Hatake Kakashi in both its use and in the use of the Sharingan. It's blade is also incredibly sharp, and Sasuke wields it with impunity matching that of Naruto and his skill with Byakaze.

_Fuujin- _A doujutsu long lost to the annals of time, it resurfaced as a genetic quirk in Uzumaki Naruto. Now gifted with god-like control of the wind, Naruto now has to learn what it's like to be a first generation Jin, and to train in the art of moving the Wind. Eventually, this gift will give him a legendary status amongst the Hidden Villages; its power and versatility will earn him accolades amongst the shinobi of the world, and his enemies will learn to fear his presence on the battlefield. The doujutsu manifests as four black triangles extending out from the pupil, past the outer edge of the iris, then sweeping back in to the outer edge with the leading side of the triangle.

_Raijin- _A doujutsu long lost to the annals of time, it resurfaced as a genetic quirk in Uzumaki Naruto. Now gifted with god-like control of lightning, Naruto now must learn to control his new-found power in order to become a master of the element. He hasn't yet unlocked all of the doujutsu's potential at this point. Instead, he currently relies on the boost of strength, speed, and reflexes that it gives him. In the coming days, Naruto might learn a few more tricks, but for now, it's use is limited to close quarters combat. The doujutsu manifests itself by transforming the iris of his eye into a bright yellow sunburst. Who knows what the next level of the doujutsu might look like? Only time will tell...

_Kaze- _A manic ball of wind that is a result of the manifestation of the Fuujin in Naruto. He sometimes acts as a counselor to Naruto in matters of wind-manipulation and life, and never misses a chance to voice his opinion. He has been curiously silent during the past few days, though. Who knows why?

_The Itachi (weasel)- _A nameless weasel who doesn't choose to associate with Naruto on a friendly basis. The Itachi is a manifestation of Naruto's Raijin ability. He has the tendency to behave like a thunderstorm, all piss and vinegar one moment with his casual use of lightning manipulation to put Naruto in his place, then all bluff and bluster when he is confronted over his treatment of Naruto by The Kyuubi no Yokou.


End file.
